Where it all Began Rosa X Balder
by Katie-Hellsing1997
Summary: We all know how Rosa and Balder broke the rules, had a daughter named Cereza and the witch hunts began when Loptr took control of Balder after killing Rosa. But did you ever wonder how they met? Here's a story that explores their past in Rosa's P.O.V. I hope you enjoy my first Bayonetta story and please let me know where I can improve the story for future chapters. Thank you :)
1. Chapter 1

"Fly me to the moon and let me play among the stars. Let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars."

I sing to the sleepy child. She curled up as best as she could against my back on the other side of these bars. A while ago, she came down and told me how she was with a man named Luka and myself, apparently being called Bayonetta for some reason, and our adventures that had happen while searching for her father. Cute. Even down in these dark dungeons, she still manages to come up with fascinating stories she made up. Though she insists it really happened. I just listened, it's the only contact I had in here, in chains. Away from my lover. Poor child. Being alone out there, the black sheep of the clan. Forbidden to learn our ways, to become strong. But I suppose that if I were to reminisce on the event leading up to this, I shall start from the very beginning. It started 7 years ago.

*FLASHBACK*

The Umbra and the Lumen went about the daily routine of keeping the light and darkness in balance. Every so often we would partner up on missions. We Umbra preferred the darkness as the Lumen preferred the light. We summon demon and made a pact with them for more power, the Lumen did the same with angels. When we die, our souls get dragged down through the red portal to Inferno, the Lumen get pulled up through the yellow portal to Paridiso. That's the life we live with in the town of Vigrid. I was training with the other witches when I noticed the Umbra Elder walk towards the meeting hall with the Lumen Elder. The elder had his warrior with him. By the looks of him, he was fairly well built and had long silver hair that covered the hood on his robe. His white robe had gold lined patterns that extend over the sleeves, hood, possibly, and coat. Red diamond-shaped patterns run down along the chest to form a chain at the legs and also down his sides were also visible on the robe. The robe itself has gold rings of metal around the base of his arms and also splits apart just below the waist. Finally his shoes were white leather gold-toed boots with heels. By the way he walked, he was confident in our territory. The elders stopped in their tracks and so did the warrior, who was behind the Lumen elder.

"Are you done staring?" My leader asked. She didn't even turn around and I was fighting with the other witches.

I stopped and apologised. She motioned me to come towards her. I thanked my Umbran sisters for the training and walked towards the elders.

"As you can see, the Lumen has his warrior with him. I shall do the same by bringing you with me." The elder informed me and I followed them.

Ever since I was a child, I would dream of being the elder's most trusted warrior and helped my sisters whenever I could. I would train as much as I could and every free time I had would go towards studying the Umbran way. Then one day, the elder herself came to me in my home, in Crescent Valley, and chose me as one of the few selected to train under her supervision. The one who did the best will be her well trusted warrior. We were selected at the age of 10 and the training takes 6 years to fully complete. Learning the Enochian language in order to summon out demons helps too since every chant is different for each witch for summoning our demon sponsors/partners or our own inventions. We are pretty keen in the arts of alchemy, chemistry, martial arts, medicine, anatomical health. We pretty much we learn everything in order to survive, including armour that powers up by our powers. We also learnt Witch Time, dodging at the last possible second and slowing down time. Another way to trigger it is to actually get hit, but turn into our smallest flying animal/insect within and change back, mine is hornets within just for the record. We also had to learn our animal within to run faster, which is always felines/big cats for the Umbra and dogs/wolves for the Lumen. For both clans we change into birds for flight, it's better because we can only temporarily use our demon partners wings, usually a few seconds. Yeah, a lot of studying involved. But it was worth when I got the position of guarding the Elder and such. And here I am now, walking down the halls with both the Umbra and Lumen elder along with the Lumen warrior, who hasn't said a word since coming here and studying us. I looked at him and as soon as we made eye contact, we quickly looked away. Thankfully, my cloth hid most of my face because I could feel the heat from my cheeks but I'm not sure about the Lumen. A minute later we reached the meeting hall and the Elders turned to us. They had their usual leader like faces so we must have stopped blushing. We were instructed to stay out here as they entered the room. I decided to make small talk because to be honest, I hate the silence when I am with someone, you never know what the other is thinking.

"What do you suppose they are talking about?" The Lumen asks me, beating me to ask the first question.

"Most likely talking about our next mission or the balance of the light and dark." I answered, I don't know what they talk about in there.

"I agree. Still, that usually lasts 20 minutes. They've been in there for..." He looks at his golden, sun shaped watch that was on the left side of his chest. "50 minutes."

"I don't question it really. As long as everything is balanced, they could be in there forever for all I care." I remarked.

He chuckled and nodded, it caused me to smile too. As if on cue, they came out of the hall.

"Looks like you two got well aquatinted." The Lumen Elder comments upon see us smiling. "But I'm afraid that it's time for us to depart. Come."

The Lumen warrior nodded and walks up to me. We shook hands.

"It was a pleasure to meet you Umbra Warrior." He says with a smile, a genuine one.

"Like wise. And you may call me Rosa."

"As you know I am the Lumen Warrior, but you may call me Balder."


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a few hours since the Lumen decided to pay us a visit and I was starting to get bored. I thought a walk in the wood would help, but it only satisfied me a little. No one really comes this far into the woods and it has a big enough clearing, might as well spar with my partner.

"PDEE BARMA!" I chanted, causing my hair, the main medium for summoning demons, to go into the portal of Inferno.

Good thing for me that I was wearing an actual robe. Umbra witches can use their hair to turn it into clothing except for our shoes and gloves, glasses don't count obviously. If we were to summon our demons, well let's say that would leave us 10% covered in actual clothing and our hair covering just our private parts and torso. Yeah, I hate it actually. Anyway, my demon partner climbs her way up from Inferno. Any demon we catch to summon in battle are wrapped in our hair, like chains or a spider web in a way, so most of the time we don't know what their skin colour is. She is now out the portal but not in her full height, I only made her a little smaller than the trees, say about 100 feet tall, her actual height is 5 times bigger than that. Through my hair, you can see that her skin is dark green, the decorations on her outfit and wings are gold, and her insect motif is that of a scarab beatle, suggested by the looks of her wings and head piece. The one feature thats normal is her piercing red eyes, like a ruby or some other jewel. She is Madama Khepri, Protector of Time.

"What is it you seek, Rosa?" She asks in her normal demon language, which we also had to learn as well as the angels language.

"I'm bored." I complained, putting on a pout and looking up at her like a child.

She looks around and noticed her height. She smirks and guessed that I wanted to spar. Whatever we feel emotionally, our contract partner will as well. I also took the time to talk to mine and got to know her, though it took a while for her to come round. Some of the other witches thought it was strange but who cares, she's my partner not theirs. As part of the deal we have, the contract states that we have to satisfy the demons thirst for blood and death by killing our enemies, which is usually out of control angels and demons. I can't seem to be able to do so since there hasn't been many of those lately, but Madama Khepri says that sparring from time to time helps keep that urge to kill everything away for a while. She looks down at me with the same smirk and before I had time to register what's going on, debris was flying in all directions. I stood my ground though and stared her down as her face came closer. I looked to where the debris came from and there was her fist coming out of a hole in the ground.

"Still not frightened? Hehe, come on and prove it in battle." She says, rising her fist again.

"Let's tango then." I reply, raising my pistols up, Unforgiven, and aimed.

She attacks again. This time I was able to dodge and launch a log straight towards her head. It makes contact. The dust settled and I saw that she had her arm raised. She blocked it. Khepri stood up and she stomped the ground, causing it to shake and making me loose my balance. She managed to grab me and launch me into the air doing cartwheels. I regain control and looked down at my opponent while still raising up in the air. She returned the log and I just barely dodged it. For a really tall demon, she was really fast. Aw well, you know the saying, the bigger they are the harder they fall. I turned into my Falcon Within form and flew around her. In doing so , I turned some of my feathers into blades and launched them at her and managed to get a few hits in. She surprised me by hitting my back and crashed into the ground, turning back to normal in doing so. Damn she's strong. She was ready to punch me again but this time, with enough strength, I turn into my Tigress within form and ran as fast as I possibly could out the way and behind a tree.

"Come out come out wherever you are." She beckons. It sounded creepy from where I was.

I peeked out from my hiding place and say that she had her back to me. To took my chance and ran towards her knees. Because it's the back of the knee, it would be really easy to take her down. I kicked the knees and down she goes. I ran and did the same thing to her head. She ends up on her back. I look straight into her eyes and she admits defeat. The fight though left me hurt and tired, obviously, but hey, no pain no gain. She stands up again but before fully standing, she offered her hand for me to hitch a ride. I smiled and took the offer. She placed me on her shoulder and begins to walk like it was a daily stroll in the park. We do this every time we fight, I satisfy her urge to kill everything, I get a ride home. Win win. That and she feels kinda bad after beating me to a pulp but I can patch myself up at home pretty quick, so no worries there. Skills and reflexes improve with every battle.

"So what did you think of Balder?" I asked while assessing my wounds, curious as to her opinion of him.

"Just another Lumen to me. Though he is kinda cute." She answered honestly. I thought that. "But keep in mind that we can't break the rules. Thousands of years old yes, but still a strong rule."

"The rules apply to demons too?" I didn't think it was possible.

"Well yeah. Keep in mind that we were once human too." She reminds me. "I thought it would've been gone within the millenia, but I was wrong."

"It it boring being a demon?" I asked, not knowing why I hadn't asked before.

"It has its days like humans do. But we mainly just try to avoid dying and fend for ourselves. We would be lucky if we had allies without the contracts in Inferno."

I grew curious, but also learned new things along the way. The demons we summon might've been enemies with each other and we just make them work together. But it doesn't mean we don't get gossip from time to time. Khepri tells me about a demoness who's causing a bit of trouble in Inferno. She's been picking fights and disrupting the rare peace from time to time. Her motif seems to be that of a butterfly, by the look of her wings, and has a piece shaped like a swallowtail. Sounds like an interesting demon, wonder who will get her as a contract partner. A dog accidentally ended up the hellish world, but it turned into a demon itself and became a force to be reckoned with. It can be very loyal to those who befriends it though, just like it did before the change. Other than that. It has been pretty quiet. While I was listening, I had pulled out a few splinters, saw that the cuts were a little deep, and had a bruised rib, possibly a couple. I can finish patching up in a minute, since we were home already. My room, luckily, faced the forest so Khepri was able to just raise her arm above her head a little and I was finally in my room.

"Thanks Khepri. Rest up, never know when we're going to get a mission." I advised.

"You beat me to the sentence." She smirked. "Get healed up and take it easy."

We nodded to each other and she returns to Inferno. I looked at my shadow and there she was, your contract partner becomes your shadow so you never see your shadow unless they are summoned. I decided that I needed bandages for the cuts on my arms and torso so I left for the medical room. As I slightly limped to the room, I encountered the Elder, who then noticed me.

"Sparring again?" She asked, almost motherly.

"Yes. I didn't get as hurt like I did last time." I relpied, knowing she was about to say the usual comment or suggesting.

"Why do you even bother? Why not change partner? Many other witches did that when their demons hurt them too much." Now she was just bothering me.

This always seems to happen. It's because the other witches find it weird that I got to know my partner. They'll come round, I hope.

"I told you, she is my partner and friend. She doesn't like hurting me, but she appreciates the fact that I help keep the urge to kill us all at bay. Beside, a few years together and we became sisters." I stated.

She acknowledges my answer and handed me bandages and cream to prevent infection. She started doing this after I came home hurt the first few time. I thanked her and returned to my room. After patching up, I decided that it was time to go to sleep. The sun was setting anyway. I lay there, in my bed next to the window, watching as the sky became orange and red. I start to think of Balder. What did he think of me? Would we see each other again? I hoped so. The sun disappeared and was replaced by the crescent moon and stars. But I was already asleep. Thinking of him.


	3. Chapter 3

I awoke to the sun rising up into the sky. A new day, the same old routine. I stood up and felt better than I did last night. I didn't walk with a limp anymore. I changed into my robes and left to the training hall, where all my Umbran sisters were sparring each other. Honestly, I wish we could do something different from time to time, like visiting the Lumens? My mind hasn't been off Balder since I met him. I sighed and decided to just go to the libary, my ribs still hurts when I move around.

"What is wrong Rosa? You don't seem to be yourself lately." One of my Umbran sisters asked. (Let's just call her, Sylvia.)

"Oh nothing Sylvia. Just got something stuck in my mind." I answered, while entering the libary.

"Well I guess we all do sometimes. Hey did you see a Lumen Sage with long hair and a monocle? He is good looking."

It sounded like Balder, but I'm sure she meant another Lumen Sage.

"I think so, did you catch his name by any chance?" I had to confirm my suspicions.

"Why? So you can get him for yourself?" I really wasn't sure if she felt the same as me or just being sarcastic. "But if you must know, his name is Balder."

My heart dropped when I heard this. I'm sure she just thought he was good looking too, I think some other Umbrans agreed too.

"I agree he's good looking, he also has a nice personality too. I only talked to him once when they Lumens came to visit." I told her, feeling as though I had to confirm that I talked to him first.

Why am I thinking this way? I only met him once, there is no reason for me to feel this way. Maybe I am feeling jealous, not sure why.

"Yeah well, I'm wondering if I could get his attention, we might even go as far as going out together." Sylvia taunted. I forgot she can be a total jerk, that's me being polite.

She left and I felt butterflies in my stomach. I am really confused about this. I'm sure I wouldn't see Balder again anyway. I just can't stop thinking about him. I just read books all day, managing to forget him for a while. The higher up ranked Umbra approached me and handed me a scroll.

"Rosa, can you please deliver this to the Umbran Elder in Crescent Valley please? It is the status report for here, Vigrid."

"Yes ma'am."

I put the scroll in my robe pocket and made my way to Vigrid. It will take me a day to get there so I decided to pack a few healing items and my Evil Harvest Rosary accesory. Every time I successfully dodge an enemies attack, a rosary beads will fall of and explodes. It is my trusty accesory. I saw Sylvia on my way out.

"Aw shame. I guess I won't have competition to get Balder's attention." She comments sarcastically.

I really don't like her. And she keeps bringing up Balder. I seriously think she fancies him... Maybe I do too. I shook that thought out of my head and exited the tower. I planned my route to Crescent Valley. I looked at the map. Let's see, there's Paradiso, the a forest, and from there I can fly the rest of the way. Alright, let's get going.

*A Few Hours Later*

It's been half a day and I'm in the middle of the forest. I decided to take a break and sat on top of the highest branch of the tallest tree here. I sat and looked at the sunset and found it calming. I'll have to wait till morning to continue. I summon Madama Khepri.

"I noticed that you are thinking about what Sylvia said." Khepri mentions. "You seem to take what she said seriously?"

"I'm not sure anymore, Khepri." I reply. I look towards the sun. "Isn't this calming?"

She also looks towards the sunset and nods. "Your changing the subject, Rosa."

"You know how I feel." I point out. "So yeah, I can't help it."

"I once had that feeling. This is why I find the sunset calming too. It reminded me of him." She told me, her face showing distant memories of her past.

"Him? Was he a Lumen too?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

She nodded. I figured that it's the same as me and Balder right now, maybe not even that far and just meeting him. The stars were shining bright now and I asked if she wanted to return to Inferno. She say and looked at the stars. She shook her head no and I understood, you can't see stars in Inferno. I lean back against the tree and fell asleep. The next morning I woke up to find myself entering Crescent Valley. I look up at Khepri and she greets me.

"Sleep well?"

"I did, thank you. Why are we here now?"

She explained to me that she spent at least 3 hours thinking about her past and thought a walk would do her some good. So she placed me in her hand and continued the journey. It was incase angels or demons attacked during the night, she spotted a few on her way here but they caused no trouble. Yet. We reached Crescent Valley and I delivered the scroll to the Elder. I left, it was pretty uneventful and if I leave later I should be home by night fall, so I decided to explore a nearby town for a while. When the Umbra Witches and Lumen Sages want to explore a city thats filled with people, we go into a realm called Purgatory. This means we become invisible to the human eyes, so they cannot interfere with our business and vice versa. If we battle in this realm, the humans won't ever know it is happening, they'll only notice dust coming up from the ground. My personal favourite thing to do in Purgatory is to move stuff around or break the empty crates around them and give them a fright. I love it. The only downside about this realm is that we can be seen in anything that reflects, like a mirror or a window. Another way humans can see us is if they find or manage to buy special glasses that see into the realms, or we can be very kind and lend the our glasses but that chance is very slim since we cannot intefere. That rarely happens though. 2 hours into my exploration, I heard what sounded like blades coming from behind me and it was getting louder. Without looking back, I jumped into the air and darting past me not a second later were angels. A natural ability we Umbra and Lumen have is to see anything in Purgatory, even if we are not there ourselves. Like I said, we don't even need our glasses to see them, they're just for fashion and became a distinct look for us Umbra. The sky lightens up and more angels descended. There was an explosion from where I was standing, I knew I can trust my Rosary accessory. By the looks of them, they are Affinity and Kinship type angels. I equip my pistols, Unforgiven, made quick work of them. It didn't take long before they were exterminated. The sky lightens up again and I knew there was going to be a bigger angel, that's how it always works. I was right, it was a Valiance angel. A Valiance angel is a big angel, say around 15/20 feet tall, decorated with red and golden armour and equipped with a sword. It had no head, but it is on the hilt of the sword. So as well as attacking with the sword, it will lift the tip of the sword into the air and raise its face to wear it's head should be. If fell from the building and ran straight towards me, ready to attack. I summon Madama Khepri's arm and punched it, momentarily stunning it as it drops it's sword, skidding some distance away. I saw its face stick out and scrambled back to the headless body, which was kneeling down waiting. I took my chance and continued the punching and kicking. I fully summoned Khepri and allowed her to finish it off. She grabbed the sword and stabbed away. That's the end of this battle. But I felt as though I was being watched and looked up at one of the buildings. Nothing was there except for a lone peacock feather floating with the wind. I had a feeling that I knew who was standing there.

A/N - Please note that the character Sylvia is my own character that I added to this story. I thought it would be a little more interesting if I added her in. If you wish to use her in your story please ask permission please. Thanks. The rest of the characters belong to the creators of Bayonetta at Platnium Games.


	4. Chapter 4

That one lone peacock feather. I have a feeling that I know who was standing there. I know it was a Lumen, but could it be him? Balder? Either way, I'll need to report the out of control angels I encountered. I wonder what the locals are thinking right now. I'm still in Purgatory so they must've noticed something. I listened.

"Why does the ground kick up dust, mommy?" A young child asked, pulling in his mothers arm and pointing at the holes in the ground.

"No one knows son. It has been happening for years, maybe even long before my grandmother was born. She says that there are beings. Beings who go into a state called Purgatorio." The mother replies, looking like she knows what she is talking about. "They are invisible to us, but one way to know they are around is either that you smell there perfume. Or, you look at anything that reflects, like a mirror or a window."

Interesting. The grandmother must have witnessed one of us at some point in her life.

"But what are the creatures?"

"Well. There's a tale of beings called the Umbra Witches and beings called the Lumen Sages. They have been around for hundreds of years, protecting the balance of darkness and light. But one day, they disappeared. No one knows why they disappeared so quickly, but they left some evidence of their existence. Weapons, armour, books. The tale says that even if they have disappeared, it doesn't mean they have left completely. Most likely avoiding being sighted by humans for an unknown reason. They say that they have been protecting us from utter chaos by making sure the balance is safe. That child, is why we honour them with these statues."

She points to the the huge statues. A Lumen Sage statue on the left and the Umbra Witch statue on the right. She is right, we do protect them from utter chaos. That is our duty. It's nice to know that we are not completely forgotten. I began to wonder to myself about motherhood. It looks so...interesting. She looks so happy with the child. Even with their fathers. It looks nice, having a family of your own. Children you'll have to raise and teach. But sadly I couldn't stick around. I have to make sure there isn't more out of control angel around. I turn into my tigress within form and ran around the city. Not many but there were a few, meaning that there is still a big one lingering around. I have to find it to stop them from returning, but where to look? I ran around the edge, so it must be in the middle. Seems logical. I continued to the centre of the city when I suddenly had to skid to a stop before a defeated angel fell on me. I change back and looked up to see another Umbra Witch fighting the angels, must've been why I haven't encountered many of them. A few came up behind her, so I equipped my pistols, Unforgiven, and shot at them. She looks behind her, a little suprised, before finishing of the last one. I jumped up onto the building.

"You should really make sure you don't get caught from behind. That was rule number 1 in training." I commented.

She turns around and I realised that it was Sylvia.

"Really now, you were training the same amount of time as me and still you forget that rule." I finished.

"Well there was alot, can't help it if it happens." She replies, the cloth on her face showing indentations of a sneer underneath it. "Besides, I can take care of myself."

"I never said you can't. That's besides the point, what are you doing here?"

"I had orders to check up on the angels that went out of control here. As you can see, they are."

"It has to be in the centre of the city. I encountered a few angels myself."

"And how would you know that?" She doesn't look amused. "You only encountered a few before finding me."

"As you know Sylvia," I deliberately say her name. "The Umbra or the Lumen MUST parol the area they are in if they encounter an out of control angels or demons. They have no knowledge if someone is investigating it so one must assume there isn't and must do so themselves. If they encounter the one sent to investigate, they tell them what they encountered and assist if necessary. And how I know if the big angel is in the centre of the city? I looked around the outskirts. You seem to have a bad attitude towards this rule." I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders.

I guess I should give you some background about Sylvia. For as long as I can remember, she wanted the position I am in, the Umbran Elder's trusted warrior. Who wouldn't? You can get access to nearly anywhere without being questioned. The rest of my sister, that is what we call each other cause we are a clan after all, liked the competition of gaining that role. We grew up to be good friends, good rivals, a good team. We always made sure we had respect for each other, all except Sylvia. She always tried to go solo and got into a lot of trouble doing so. So when we learned that I got the position, she was fuming. What did she expect? She's lucky she didn't get exiled for her behaviour. My sister were pleased that I got the role, they always said that I should but they were going to be my competition anyway. It was a good time in my life. Back to the point. She only got to do patrols and eliminate the angels or demons. She's just jealous. Somedays we get along, but sometimes I have to set her straight before getting into trouble, I do care.

"Fine," she sighed. "To the centre we go."

I lead the way in my Tigress form, I looked back to see if she is able to keep up and saw she was in her Lioness within form. She's not a bad person, just overconfident about being able to do stuff solo. It took about 10 minutes to get to the centre because there were a few more angels encountered. When we reached our destination, the angels seal covered every enterance we can go through. Meaning we have no way to escape now if we wanted. There were more angels in the last wave and I was really glad I had my Evil Harvesting Rosary on, there were a few close call because it was a mixture of Ardor, Kinship, Joy and an Urbane. The last wave is usually tougher and the main angels last resort before fighting for itself. The Joy angels are angels that are female, and fight in the same manner as the Umbra, that's why they can be a little difficult to fight, but harder to fight a group of them. Thank goodness Sylvia is my backup and vice versa. Sylvia equipped Kafka, a bow and arrow weapon which is shaped like a big dragon fly and shoots mini dragon flies from it's wings. Hit your target four times then by the fifth, you can charge the shors too, they will explode and cause more damage. She has great aim, so I can rely on her for distance shots. I prefer close combat, so I equip my swords, Rakshasa, and charged. One wave later, the clouds open up and the light shined down from the heavens. There's the big angel. Courage. It is the smaller and weaker version of Fortitudo. It is a dragon like creature with 2 heads and wings for arms. On it's torso is an upside down face, creepy. It's heads fired fireballs at us but we were able to deflect it using witch time, slowing down time and launching the fire balls at it. It was stunned and fell to the ground. I went to one head while Sylvia went to the other. We force the mouth open and, using the pistols on our heels, shot it. We repeated this two-three times, before we were able to pull it's heads off and won the battle.

"Impressive." I praised Sylvia. "It would have taken a little longer if you were not here."

"Ditto." She replies, a slight grin visible. "Let head home, shall we?"

We turn to go, but realised that the barrier was still up. A big shadow soon engulfed us, the Courage angel was making a last attempt to defeat us! It swings it's tail and we barely dodged it as dust blinded us. I manage to get the dust out of my eyes, now realising my glasses fell somewhere when I dodged. No matter, I don't need them to see my enemies anyway. I aim my weapon, still mildly blind from the remaining dust. The sound of the air being cut was heard before the angel yelled out in pain and disappeared. The ground was stabbed and I could make out that it was a golden glaive. I rubbed my eyes again, determined to get the dust out my eyes. A hand touched my shoulder and slightly flinched away.

"Now now Rosa, I'm only trying to help." A male voice says. "I didn't think we'd meet again like this."

"B-Balder?" I asked.

"Yes." Balder confirms. "Here."

He takes my hand and gives me something. It was my glasses, which I gladly put back on. I look up at him and he smiles, before helping me stand up.

"Thank you. What are you doing here, Balder?"

"Same reason you might be here, an out of control angel." He summons back his glaive, before making it disappear again. "It has been a while, Umbra."

"It has. How have you been?" I made small talk.

"Alright. Still carrying on with my duties. And yourself?" He replies, looking slightly happy about talking.

"Same here."

A throat being cleared was heard and we found Sylvia standing 4 feet away.

"Care to introduce me to your friend, Rosa?" She say, eyeing Balder and smirking.

"Uh, yeah. Balder this is Sylvia. Sylvia this is Balder." I introduced them.

"Pleasure to meet you Balder." Sylvia says, sounding like she was flirting with him as she held out her hand.

"Yes. Nice to meet you too." He sounded polite, but not flirting with her.

I was kinda happy about that. Balder turns to me.

"So, may I ask to accompany you and your friend back to Vigrid. I had just finished delivering a message to the Elder."

I was happy for him to come along. Sylvia looked happier. Back home we go. We made our way through town and entered the forest. We figured our animal within will allow us to speed up. I turned into my Tigress within, Sylvia turns into her Lioness within, and Balder turns into his wolf within. I made a mental note that the golden and red patterns go from the top of his neck down and over his tail. Gold lines are visible and end at his paws, where his claws are also golden. He also wheres a big golden collar, and above it attached to golden chains was his sun shaped watch, like a necklace. It all matches his white fur, I like it. I took notice that Sylvia seems to be inching closer to him. We made our way through the trees, jumping on the branches for a bit of fun and seeing who can jump the furthest. It was Balder, me, then Sylvia. Best to not bad. We continued our journey, still in our animal within forms.

"How far do you think we traveled Umbra?" Balder asked.

"Not sure. How long have we've been running?"

"I reckon a few hours now, not including the breaks we had." Sylvia answered. "So we must be a third of the way there by now."

She said that more to Balder than to me. He noticed Sylvia coming closer to him and he growled quietly at her but that didn't sway her. I sighed. This is going to be a long day.

A/N - Please note that the character Sylvia is my own character that I added to this story. I thought it would be a little more interesting if I added her in. If you wish to use her in your story please ask permission please. Thanks. The rest of the characters belong to the creators of Bayonetta at Platnium Games.


	5. Chapter 5

Sylvia seems to be inching her way to Balder whenever it seems that he wasn't paying attention and would suddenly be two feet away when he looks back at her. I can tell by the way he quietly growled that he was getting annoyed. After finally making it home by evening, al three of us decided to go our separate ways. But before we did that, we had to go to Umbra Elder, to report that I have successfully delivered the message and how Balder assisted Sylvia and myself with the rogue angels. We reach the enterance to her study.

"You may enter." She called from the other side of the door, as if she sensed that we have arrived.

We entered the study. I noted that there were quite a few books on her desk that were taken from the many shelves against the walls. Balder bowed politely as he greeted the Elder Witch.

"Ah, Balder is it?" She asked.

"Correct, ma'am." Balder confirmed. "I have come to confirm the reports of the rogue angels in Crescent Valley."

The Elder nods her head. She took notes of the things Balder was telling, noted how many angels were attacking us and the number of each type of angels they were. I.e. 50 Affinity angels, 5 Joy angels, etc.

I don't remember the exact numbers now. These dungeons and atmosphere is messing with my head a little. Anyway, back to the story.

We left the room after the reports were given from each of us. Balder turned to me.

"Thank you for allowing me to accompany you back, Umbra." He thanked. "Now I have to return home before my Elder starts to wonder where I am."

"It is no problem, Lumen." I answered. "Thank you for assisting us with the angels."

Before you ask, we use the term of what clan we are, Umbra and Lumen, on a professional term when we work together and to show respect. We don't really call each other by name to avoid going beyond the work relationship. If we go beyond that, as in become a couple, then we get exiled. If the couple have a kid, then this causes exile from our clans and the child would not be allowed to be part of the clans, becoming a black sheep. It is actually breaking the law between the two clans and it is stated that 'the intersection of light and dark would bring destruction to the world.' I have no idea how that works, but I doubt that is how it works. But I keep my mouth shut about this.

"Yes Lumen, darling." Sylvia pipes up again. "I do hope that we can work together again soon."

"Uh, yes. Well, Umbra, I should get going." Balder answered, hiding his annoyance. "Good evening."

With that, he left. Sylvia turns to me. She keeps yapping on and on that how good looking he was and 'wouldn't mind getting a bit of that action'. My eyes widens when she sounded like she was willing to break the Clan Law to get Balder's attention. I shook off the shock and walked away to my room. The moon was out now. Not a fully moon mind you but it was close to it now. I just fell asleep after my exhausting journey.

*THE NEXT DAY*

I was patrolling Vigrid and once again, it was a really uneventful day. I was teaching the younger Umbra Witches hand to hand combat. I normally have to be by the Elder, being the trusted warrior and all, but she wanted peace today and here I am. I just check up on her from time to time. They were learning fast, they knew all the holds and where to hit the opponent. They'll be able to learn how to fight with weapons soon and find what type of weapon they can specialise in. I dismissed the class at noon, since lunch was coming up and then they will learn about accessories. If you were expecting epic stuff to happen then I hate to break it to you, but nothing interesting happens, it happens rarely, and this is everyday life. The only thing that puts what we learned to the test is the rogue angels and demons. That's what I say to the trainees.

I received a mission for me to go and investigate some strange activity going on in the town. Sightings of possible demon and angels were what changed my mind of sending someone else to do it. Sylvia was walking by me and Looked at the paper with my mission on it.

"Chances are that you might meet Balder again, darling." She purred. "Allow me to take the mission so you won't...fall for him?"

"Ha." I retorted. "Your more of a flirter than any of us combined, no thanks. But I can handle myself."

I was going to bring up our journey back from Crescent Valley where she kept getting closer to him and how annoyed he was getting. And strangely annoying me. But I wrote it off as me getting annoyed at her not respecting someone's personal space. I just left her there, she was sneering under cloth and failed at hiding her stomps and annoyance as she walked the other way. I once again equip my trusty Evil Harvesting Rosary Beads and left for the centre of town.


	6. Chapter 6

If you were to visit any part of Vigrid, the first thing that you will notice is how many little stalls and shops there is. Each stall sells unique items, such as fruits, jewellery, some have claimed they have found artefacts of long lost clans and tried to make some quick cash. While in purgatory, I had a little browse at the stalls and saw that there was one item that caught my eye. They were earrings. Not just any earing, oh no, they were the Earrings of Ruin. Why did this catch my attention you may ask? Well, allow me to explain:

These crescent shaped earring are given to the Umbran fighters by the Umbra Elder, the leader of our clan. Any witch who wears these are permitted their own war machine, these are powered by magic. Instead of triggering Umbra Climax, using our demon partners in the fight and overpower the enemy, it is replaced with the Umbran Armour. The armour is quite powerful, but it is only to be used if something really bad were to happen, like a war or something along that line. I doubt that will happen anytime soon.

I wondered how it got into this man possessions, and thought that I should return this to the armoury back home after my task is complete. In purgatory, as I have mentioned before, and Umbra Witch or Lumen Sage cannot be seen unless someone happens to look at something that reflect like a window or mirror. I took them with me, leaving something worth the same value in its place as payment and put them in my pocket. I don't intend to use them, though as a trusted warrior to the Elder, I have permission to do and use what I can to complete my missions. With nothing unusual happening from what I have seen, I decided to listen in on the locals for some intel.

"Didn't you hear?" One woman asked.

"Hear what?" A shop keeper asked.

"There seems to be some dust and unusual holes in the ground suddenly turning up near the centre of town?" She informs the keeper.

"Oh yeah." He acknowledges the answer. "It's probably just something kicking up the ground and causing the dust or just some kids playing a prank on the locals."

"I don't know. There has been scratch marks appearing on buildings and the tables, chairs, everything else just explodes for no possible reason." The lady explains. "Maybe something else is going on."

"The stuff about angel and demons are just legends, fairy tales." The keeper already answered her unspoken question. "Maybe someone used it to there advantage to scare everyone for kicks."

"Yeah, you're right." She chuckles, before leaving the stall. "Have a good day now."

"See ya." He replied.

That was all the info I needed to go and check out the centre of town. Everything always seem to happen in the centre of each town recently, must be a strange coincidence. As I jumped on the building's roof tops, there seems to be a darker, sinister presence nearby. This can confirm that there is some rogue demons this time. But the light and calming feeling is also present. Angels? Why would both angels and demons be in the same spot? Maybe they happened to come across each other and are fighting each other? I have no idea, but that is why I am here to investigate.

The damage only became more noticeable as I reach the centre. At first, there would be the occasional scratch on the buildings, then there would be more along with broken tables and windows, which ended with it looking like a serious battle had taken place. The centre looked like a warzone and I have yet to find the cause. But then, as I jumped to the next building, I heard the familiar chirps the Angels are known to make and turned around. I saw them fly towards me and because I was still in the air, I was unable to block on time. I braced myself. I heard them fly towards me. Then past me. And they flew away from me? I look up and saw the reason for them flying past me. The Angels were going towards some Infernal Demons that were charging towards them. They charged at each other, hit one another. They were fighting a battle here, and I have no idea as to how they got here. I don't even recognise most of the demons that were right in front of me. Why? Well it is not often that demon come up from Inferno to cause trouble, just like the angels, but some of the demons I see are not the usual ones.

Now is probably a good time to explain the whole angels and demons going rogue and causing trouble. When they are created in either Inferno (Demons) and Paradiso (Angels), they could cause trouble because they are not being watched by the stronger ones properly. Paradiso is the human equivalent to Heaven and when the Lumen and the wives of the Lumen die, this is where they go and become a certain angel, depending on their strength and their qualities. The same can be said about Inferno, the human equivalent of this is Hell. Once they die and become Demon/Angel, they have to be controlled by the stronger ones as to not cause an unbalanced mess (meaning that there is more light or dark forces than the other.)

When they first become a low ranking Demon/Angel, they have little to no control over their own thought and decisions. When they prove their worth and strength to the Ruler of Inferno/Paradiso, they regain control of their thoughts and actions, the ruler would consider what type of Demon/Angel they should be based on their before mentioned strengths and qualities. If you can't prove that you have strong faith in your teachings and belief, then you are wiped out completely and pretty much forgotten. (This is the best that I can describe it because I have not taught the trainees this for a long time, hence that I have forgotten the details.)

So for them to gather round here and fight one another is very unusual. Why of all places and reasons they would fight here. The Affinity and Applaud Angels are fighting some Hideous and Fury. What the heck is going on here?! There was a lot of them and I don't think I can handle them myself, but that doesn't mean I won't try. I charged towards them, as the angels and demons who were not fighting each other, noticed me and charged at me as well. I dodged the scythes they both wielded and one of the beads from my accessory fell to the ground. The Affinity and Hideous stared at it, before it exploded. Two down, so many more to go. I have to count how many I killed so I can report the numbers to the Elder. I relied on dodging and The Evil Harvesting Rosary because that would save me some energy just incase something else decides to show up.

A lot Demons, a lot Angels is what I couldn't count them all because they kept showing up. I do know that it took me at least thirty minutes of constant dodging, constant shooting and slashing and all I could think was 'Where do they keep coming from?!'

After I shot the last of the enemy, I notice that the magical barricades that the Angel symbol and Demon symbol combined was not going away, even after I did the usual shooting at the symbol to break it. It must have been a minute before I decided that I should and shoot it again. Again, nothing happened. The sky lights up again, and a Gravitas fell to the ground. The red portal of Inferno opens up from the ground during the same time the clouds from Paradiso opened up, and a Hatred crawled up from below. I was still out of breath from the fight with the lower ranks, even after the minute break I had. The Gravitas was armed with a pair of gloves or something that shoots a ball on a chain from each of the glove. It can use either the fire or ice ability, this one had fire. The Hatred was armed with a scythe, the blade is longer than my arm by the looks of it. They saw me, I prepare myself for the fight and they charged. I dodged the scythe by ducking down and immediately had to roll to the side as the ball came crashing to the ground where I had been a second earlier. An Evil Harvesting Rosary Bead came off and then blew up. Hatred was right next to it, so it wasn't uncommon for me to think it was stunned long enough for me to land a blow, but the scythe slashed through the smoke and dust and it was fine. I have no choice but to use Wicked Weave now, the ability to summon the limbs of Madama Khepri to punch or kick the enemy and to head-butt them. The downside of using Wicked Weave now is that the fight against both Demons and Angels had left me nearly no energy to use them effectively and I can't risk summoning another demon incase they turn against me and escape through the portal, adding another enemy to fight. Madama Khepri is the only Demon I can trust not to escape and help me.

"PDEE BARMA!" I call out.

The portal of Inferno opened up in front of me and Madama Khepri rose up. She wasn't turning against me, that's a good start. But then I remembered that the side effect of equipping the Evil Harvesting Rosary was that each time you dodged, it emotionally drains you, because it replace the Witch Time ability do so, and I spent most of the waves of enemies dodging them. Now I know what it meant. I took it off. And watched at the Gravitas Shot the chained cannon ball at Khepri's face. She, without any effort, caught it and the Gravitas probably guessed by now that it was not gonna win this. She swings it and hit it off the ground on either side of her. As she does this, I notice the Hatred trying to sneak up to attack me. I dodge it's scythe and shot at it, but I missed and it hits my torso with the handle of his scythe, a cracking noise accompanying it. I flew back and crashed into a table. I tried to get up, my vision blurry. I tried to focus as Hatred came inching closer to me, it's weapon over it's head. Before it swung, Gravitas came careening to the Demon and collided with it. Effectively ending them both. Khepri leans down and checked how hurt I was.

"Rosa!" She called out. "Rosa, answer me!"

"K-Khepri?" I answered, clutching onto consciousness. "H-how are you s-still here?"

"I chose to stay and help you. I do not wish to escape." Was the answer I managed to hear. She smirked. "Yet anyway."

I knew that was a joke, a tried my best to smile and can only answer with 'heh'. Khepri then turned around as my hearing fades now, ringing replacing it. A figure walks past her after a few seconds and gently picks me up bridal style. As I black out, I hear a familiar voice.

"We really should stop meeting like this."


	7. Chapter 7

I have no idea how long I was out, but all I saw was the darkness around me. During the full time I was unconscious, I honestly thought I was dragged into Inferno. I then start to hear a faint noise in front of me. I ran towards it, or I thought I did. I was now able to open my eyes, they were heavy so I took as a chance to regain some of my senses before being bombarded with questions.

"She has been out for three days now." A woman said. "I'm suprised Inferno hasn't claimed her soul yet?"

"They haven't claimed her soul because of two reason." Another woman replied. "One: her soul hasn't been knocked out of her body yet, not that it seems to matter if it did or didn't. And two: her demon partner, Khepri if I recall the name correctly, made sure that the other demons don't come for her from Inferno."

I opened my eyes, and then immediately covered them with my hand to prevent the bright light making my headache worse. The two Umbra Witches, who are specialised in medicine, took notice and came to my side.

"Welcome to the world of the living." The younger Witch greeted.

They checked me over and made sure I remember everything about myself.

"What is your name?"

"Ugh. Rosa." I muttered.

"Do you know where we are?"

"V-Vigrid."

"What job do you do?"

"I am the Umbra Elder's trusted warrior/bodyguard"

"And finally, who is your demon partner?"

I suddenly sat up in, so fast that I instantly became dizzy. My body ached from the fight, broken ribs, a couple of fractures, but I didn't care.

"Madama Khepri! Where is she?!" I quickly asked, wanting to know of what became of my partner.

Any demon can be killed if they haven't got a contract with an Umbra Witch and don't go back to Inferno. The Medical Witches lay me back down and the older one answered with.

"She is with the Umbra Elder, Rosa."

"Yeah." The younger one confirmed. "She knew that Khepri wouldn't do anything without your say so and she had her go and get some intel on the rogue demon and angel incident."

"And Balder?" I asked, more calm now that I know my partner is ok.

They stared at me, then looked at each other.

"The Lumen." The older one corrected me sternly. "Brought you here to be treated and went back to serve his Elder."

"You should thank him when you next see him." The young one adds on. "You were in bad shape when he brought you here."

I just nod my head and rest my head on the pillow. I shut my eyes and sighed with relief. I only guessed that it was Balder. But he was right, we should stop meeting like that.

I spent the next few days resting and taking these Green herbs to help the healing process. It was my third day here and I had a surprise visit from the Elder.

"Ah, feeling better I see?" She queried.

"Yes. I'm sorry that I can't help you for the next couple of days." I reply, looking down at my lap.

"Do not fret, your partner has been able to help me gain information about the strange incidents lately." The Elder informs me. I look up at her. "You didn't think we would get rid of a useful demon did you?"

I shook my head. I finally got confirmation of what I was told from the Elder herself. I was glad my partner was alright. Speaking of my partner.

"Why didn't Madama Khepri drag me to Inferno or just return there for the next contract?"

I learned that when a demon is loyal to the Umbra Witch, they can have a choice of what happens next when they are too week to be controlled. Khepri showed them that rare loyalty to me and the Elder chose to keep her around so I can continue the demon contract. I nod as she explained this. After everything had been explained, she left and I was later allowed to leave the medical area. With some herbs to take every so often and the instructions to not do anything drastic, just rest, the first thing that I decided to do was to find Khepri. She must be worried and I wanted to show her that I was fine. But first, go to my room and leave the herbs there. I limped the five minutes to my room and left them on my bed. I turn to the door to leave but a sigh caught my attention. I stood still and listened. I heard fingered drumming against something outside my window. I smiled a small smile and went to look out my window. Looks like I didn't have to look far after all. Madama Khepri was sitting against a large tree, facing my room, drumming her fingers against her knees. Her eyes were shut, looking like she was thinking about something.

"If your working for the Elder," I called out to her, startling her. "It's best advised that you don't sleep on the job."

She looks up and had a relieved smile that made me smile wider. She lifts her hand to the window and I was now being hugged by the demoness. She was saying that she was worried about me and to never give her a fright like that ever again. I just smiled and let her ramble on. After a minute or two, Khepri stopped. I was being cradled like a baby at this point as I relaxed. I was told to rest after all.

"How are you feeling." Was the first proper sentence she asked. "I haven't seen you in days and been worried sick."

"Here I thought demons didn't get worried and hungered for souls." I joked, both of us chuckling. "I'm ok. Really."

Khepri looked at me, not really convinced. After a moment, she just sighs and we sat in silence and enjoyed the fresh air. It relaxed my aching bones and enjoyed the breeze. I then remembered something I had to ask Khepri. I asked if she noticed anything unusual recently in Inferno. Her only reply was that something felt out of balance but the Demons had no idea what exactly is different. As for the Demons appearing in Vigrid and fighting the Angels, I learned something new. Vigrid was apparently closest to Paradiso, hence why the Lumen and angels stay there. The Umbra are there to balance the light and darkness out to avoid chaos. As for the demons spawning there, we have no idea why that is happening because they don't bother causing trouble outside Inferno. Strange. I made the pact with Khepri again and she once again became my shadow. The best way to figure out something is to go the library.


	8. Chapter 8

After changing into more comfortable robe, leaving out the hood and face cloth, I entered the library and roamed around the shelves, trying to find the books needed for my research. I then realised that I had no idea what it is exactly what it was I was looking for. Pondering for a moment on where I should start and decided that since it probably had something to do with the balance of light and dark, I should start with the origin of the world and clans. I searched again, it was a huge library the length is like having some sort of mansion with two floors filled with books filled shelves.

'Funny.' I thought to myself. 'I have partnered up with a demoness who, if made a contract and forfeiting your soul to them, can give you an almost infinite knowledge of time and some secret techniques to control it you'd think I'd know what to look for.'

I just smiled to myself and decided to keep my pride by asking the Umbra Witch who is more into history than me and she hands me a book named 'The History of the Eyes of the World."

A little off topic here. Naturally, like humans, the Umbra Witches can choose in what they specialise in in order to maintain order within the Clan. We have some who specialise in weaponry, some specialise in history, those who fight when something happens with the angels and demons that cause chaos. If there is the off chance that a child is born with no traces of magical powers, then that child will be left to be raised by the humans without ever knowing where they truly came from. The same can be said for the Lumen Sages. When the child is born and is confirmed to be able to do magic, a Witch/Lumen is chosen to raise and be a mentor to the child. We all learn the same thing and once we have completed our the training, we will continue to train in our chosen areas. As you can guess, mine was to be a warrior and then I became the Elder's guard and trusted warrior.

One I have received the book, I sat in at a nearby table and read the book.

 **'The** _**Eyes of the World** are ancient treasures from the dawn of the human realm. **The Eyes of the World** were created by The Creator when the **Trinity of Realities** was formed. He divided his power equally amongst the human virtues of light and darkness in order to awaken humans to the truth of their existence. This gift gave humans free will, the ability to create and oversee history as they saw fit. When the Eyes are brought together, they allow the power of creation to be awakened and used to mold the universe as the user sees fit.'_

 _'_ _ **The Umbra Witches and the Lumen Sages**_ _are two clans tasked with keeping order in the world of light and dark. They were gifted with the_ _ **Eyes of the World**_ _hundreds of years ago by_ _**The Creator**_ _of the_ _ **Trinity of Realities.**_

 _ **The Left Eye of Darkness**_ _was given to the Umbra Witches who oversaw the darkness,_ _ **Inferno**_ _and it's demons._

 _ **The Right Eye of Light**_ _was given to the Lumen Sages who oversaw the light,_ _ **Paradiso**_ _and it's angels._

 _It is believed that when the two treasures are brought together, the overseers would be able to awaken_ _ **The Creator**_ _once more and can recreate the world as they saw fit.'_

The information I read was quite useful when it came to the balance of light and dark and we have all heard of the Eyes of the World. Before long, I figured out a possibility of why things seemed chaotic for the past few weeks. Someone or something must be after the Eyes so they can be the ruler of the world and the Angels and Demons must have thought of that theory as well, starting fighting or they also played a part in this plan. Hmmm. Could it have something to do with The Creator? Or something to do with The Trinity of Realities? I decided to read about them to find any sort of clue to the current situation.

' _Humans remain incapable of capturing The Creator's true glory because her true name is actually constructed from unutterable syllables. As recorded in myth, because she is the total embodiment of Divine Will, humanity is supposed to have given her the name Jubileus, which is taken from the word jubilee. The word jubilee means a celebration of rejoicing_ _in an attempt to turn Divine Will into worldly happines_ _s._

 _Humanity is bound to the physical world, forcing them to depict and describe her in its own tongue. As a result of the cataclysmic events of the ancient First Armageddon, of which she sat at the very apex, Jubileus was forced into dominion over the world of Paradiso, inhabited by Angels of light, and put into an endless slumber._

 _It was from this point that the forces of light and dark began their endless battle for hegemony. The resurrection of Jubileus would trigger a reunification of the_ _ **Trinity of Realities**_ _, fulfilling the desires of not only the forces of light, but also a centuries-old prayer said by those seeking divine intervention._ '

I decided that this was enough reading for one day. My brain feel as if it's frying from an overflow of information. I might as well take down some notes of what I have read and bring the book with me to do more research later. There was a ringing of a bell echoing around the Umbra grounds, signalling that lunch was ready. I made my way to the feast hall. When I entered the hall, nearly all my sister greeted me, inquired as to what had happened, asking if it was really true that Madama Khepri was really loyal to the point that she never left my side even when the contract/pact was broken, and if I needed anything. I was suprised by all this attention and then managed to quiet them all down so they can hear the answers to the questions.

"Is it true that your partner never left your side after the pact was broken off?" A trainee asked excitedly.

"Does this answer your question?" I asked as I briefly summon Khepri's arm for a fist bump.

The trainee's smile widens at the display and I can't help but chuckle at her and the other witches smiles and 'wows'. The questions was asked and answers given before the crowd dispersed and we ate lunch.

"I thought you were supposed to be resting and here I find you telling stories?" A voice mused. "does that even count as resting?"

Turning around, Sylvia was walking up to the table and took a seat next to me.

"Usually it means peace and quiet and no running around." I answered with a smile still on my face. "I think they were more curious about my partner's loyalty though."

"We were worried we'd lose you mainly." She answered nonchalantly. "Don't want to lose our trusted warrior now do we?"

She was worried? Well, like I said before, she is over confident about going solo in missions but I never said she was heartless. Even if Sylvia can be a total jerk at times, she is still our sister. We chatted for the duration of lunch and we parted ways afterwards.

I went my room to leave the borrowed book on my bedside table, retrieved the healing herbs and departed into the woods. I travelled to the very far east of the woods for about an hour, not counting the ten minute break I had to take from not being fully healed yet, and reached my secret little sanctuary.

It was a small yet roomy clearing with a lake in the middle of it. Thin branches can be seen wrapped around it's trees and the sun shown onto the lake creating what resembles stars reflected off of it. A sound caught my attention and a stayed completely still to listened. It sounded like...humming? Yes, it was indeed humming. I listened to again and immediately noticed it was humming 'Moon River'. I walked a little closer and recognised the figure sitting on a log closest to the lake.

"Your right." I called out to the figure, catching their attention. "We really should stop meeting like this."


	9. Chapter 9

Balder turned around casually and smiled.

"Good afternoon Umbra." He greets me. "I hope you are feeling better. That was quite a beating you got." He was walking up to me now.

"Well it was thanks to you and Khepri that I got the much needed help." I replied while returning the smile. "May I ask why you were there?"

"I could ask you the same thing. I did not know that anyone else knew of this spot." He says as he helped me sit down on the grass by the lake and sits back down next to me.

"Same here. I came here for years and never saw anyone else come here." I answered truthfully. "This is like my little sanctuary."

Balder looks at me confused at first. But then smiles.

"Same here." He echoed. "Well there's nothing wrong with sharing." He looked at me from the corner of his right eye with a smirk.

"Agreed." I replied as I leaned back on my hands, crossing my legs and closed my eyes to enjoy the warm sunshine.

A few seconds passed and I hear the shuffling of his clothes and I opened my left eye slightly to see what he was doing. He too was leaning back on his forearms with his legs stretched out, his right leg was crossed over his left and enjoying the weather. I closed my eye again with a relaxed sigh. I don't know why, but this felt right. A few moment passed and decided to get to know him a little better.

Balder grew up the nearly the same way as I did, learning the language of the Angels and Demons, everything in orderb to choose what role suits him best, like medicine, weaponry, etc. The only exceptions being that in order to receive further training from the Elder himself at a young age, he had to prove himself as a teenager that he was strong enough to receive the training. He had to fight other Lumens, both in training and experienced fighters.

"It wasn't that hard to fight the other Lumen." He recalled . "But as you can imagine, it was obviously harder to fight the more experienced Lumen. I just wanted to prove my strength, I wasn't planning to receive the training because I was too presumptuous that I could beat the Elder."

"I take it that it go that way then?" I asked, still relaxing in the same position.

"Hehe. Not exactly." Balder answered truthfully. "I did defeat all fifteen of my opponents-"

"Whoa whoa whoa, wait a minute." I interrupted, sitting right up. "Fifteen?! Why fifteen?"

I was confused. Why would they put a boy through that just to prove their strength. Surly they could have done that another way?

"Well, not all of the fighting rounds was one on one." He explained casually. "I had to prove that I could fight a group of enemies at once. The most I ever fought that day was five, two of which was still in training as well."

"That must have been tough for a kid." I thought for a moment. "How old were you when you had to prove your strength?"

He says that at the time, he was fourteen. He had to train in order to fight through the enemies thrown at him and study to prove that he has the knowledge to figure out and execute a plan for himself plus whoever might be with him to survive the mission. The reason he and the other Lumen Sages had to do it so young is because The Lumen Elder wanted to have an heir to rule and when he is deemed unfit to guard the Right Eye of Light. The Lumen Elder wanted to pass on the knowledge he has gained over the years to the next future Elder before passing on the responsibility to care for the rest of the clan. I had it easier than Balder because I was trained by the Umbran Elder herself from the age of ten. The only thing that we had in common was that we had to prove our strength physically and mentally and were trained by the Elders.

"There is another reason we were chosen to protect Elders." Balder spoke, interrupting my thought. "I believe you are familiar with the Eyes of the World?"

"I just happened to have read about them in the library before coming here." I answered. "The books are in my room."

"We were not chosen to protect just the Elders." He repeated, then added, "We were also chosen to protect the Eyes."

I then remembered that the Eyes were given to the clans to create and do what they see fit. My Sisters and I had the Left Eye of Darkness whilst Balder and his Brothers had the Right Eye of Light. Together we balance the light and dark, order and chaos. But two question was now entering the fray of questions in my mind.

"Where are the Eyes? And what exactly do they do for the clans?" I turned to him and asked.

"It's more like who possesses the Eyes. I was taught from a young age that one person from each clans will have the power of the Eyes of the World." He explained. "They are known as the Overseers."

"The ones who will take on the task of maintaining the balance of light and dark. To have control over the order and chaos?" I added in.

Balder shook his head to confirm that I was correct.

"But it is unknown who possesses the Eyes until they make themselves known to the Elders, who will then guard them." He retells the story.

At this point in time, none of us possess any of the Eyes. But someday, they will make themselves known. The Overseer will have the chose to either awaken Jubileus the Creator and recreate the world as they saw fit or keep it the way it is and lead their clans in harmony with each other. I made a mental note to write everything I have learned later. Balder and I must have sat at the lake for some time because before we knew it, the sun was slowly going down, but not enough to make it dark. Judging by the Sun's position, it was now evening. Balder looks at his Sun shaped watch.

"It will be time for dinner shortly." He informs me as he stood up. "We best get back to our clans before we are presumed missing."

He helps me stand and we said our goodbyes for the day. We turned around go our separate ways before I remembered something else. I walked up to him.

"Hey Lumen." I called out.

He turns and I kissed his cheek. His jaw dropped and before he could say anything, I winked at him, turned to walked away while still looking at him and said:

"That's for saving me in Vigrid."

I then turned into my Tigress Within form and ran back home, leaving the awe strucked Lumen in my wake.


	10. Chapter 10

After I thanked Balder with a peck on the cheek, I returned home feeling quite...happy with myself? I didn't regret it, that's for sure. It was just a form of thanks and nothing else. I went to the hall once more for dinner. When I had arrived, the first couple of my Umbra Sisters were already entering the hall.

Before you ask, yes. They do notice that at times, I am impossible to find when I want to be alone to study or enjoy the weather. No, they do not know about the waterfall. How they didn't know about it, I have no idea. Then again, I did not describe how I got to my little sanctuary in the first place apart from how long it took me to get there through the forest. I'll describe it later.

Anyway. I joined my Umbra Sisters for dinner. I listened as they talked about what their missions, preferred weaponry and accessories, their preferred role within the Umbra Clan. etc. My mind began to wonder and drowned out their conversations. I actually kissed Balder's cheek.

'It's just a token of thanks.' I thought to myself as I shook my head and rubbed my eyes. 'That's not against the clan law. Right?'

"Rosa?" One of my Umbra sisters calls, snapping me back to reality.

"Wha-? Sorry." I apologized.

"Are you ok?" The same one enquired. "You zoned out there."

"Uh, yeah. I'm ok, just tired from studying." I answered. It was only half of the truth. I poured some tea and mixed my healing herbs with it. "That and my injuries are starting to hurt again. So you wanted to ask me something?"

"Oh yeah." Another Umbra exclaimed. "We were asking what weapons and accessories you use mainly?"

"I personally prefer close combat, so my favourite weapon to use would be Rakshasa." I answered as I drank my tea, immediately feeling the pain mostly go away.

Some of the young Umbra witches looked confused and I remembered that they were just halfway learning the weaponry and their purposes.

"Is that the one sword or the dual wield?" Another witch asked.

"Dual wield. If you have questions, then it's best you take notes as I answer." I suggested. "Remember, you will be tested on your knowledge of weaponry no matter what role you take on."

They did. I taught them that there is different elements for different weapons such as magic, demonic, poison, earth, etc. An example of these is that the pistols we Umbra mainly use has the magic element. Rakshasa and Chernobog are demonic element weapons. Kafka is a poison element weapon and the list goes on. When asked my main accessory, I answered with the Evil Harvest Rosary, but I may need to change to a different one for a while. I still don't have my full energy yet but I'm better than I was when I woke up. They definitely studied about accessories because they told me about the Eternal Testimony and how it will always replenishes a little bit of your energy once you run out. That will be useful. Now that I think of it, it can also mean that I can also go back to using Witch Time again. That's settled then, my accessory will be the Eternal Testimony.

I tested their knowledge just to be sure they know what they are doing and before we knew, dinner was over. You can eat at anytime you want since we all take turns guarding the grounds and checking up on anything, but we like to stick to some routine for certain times of the day, like everyone else. I had nothing else to do, so I went back to my room to write down what Balder had told me about the Eyes of the World and how we were chosen to guard it. Why wouldn't the Elders tell us we were guarding the Eyes, instead of them possessing it. Or better yet, WHO possess the eye. As far as I know, they have yet to make an appearance. Another thought was added to the flurry as I wondered what it could mean if they ever show up. Will a war wage or will it be peaceful?

Deciding that it would be unhealthy for me worry about that for now, and to avoid being paranoid, I went outside to the training grounds. The training grounds in my opinion, were the most important area to enhance our skills. It is where we learn to activate Witch Time, to learn our Beast Within form, and to use Witch Walk. Witch Walk is an ability to tamper with gravity a little in order to stand on nearly any surface we choose, but mainly used to walk up the side of a building or a tower, something along those lines. Our symbol, the symbol of the Umbra will appear at our feet and therefore means that we won't have a problem with gravity. We can even jump up and down while standing on the side of the building without falling onto the pavement below. Very useful since most of the Angels flies. I watched the trainee witches fall in their faces as they failed to transform into their Beast Within forms to run faster. I figured that since I regained most of my strength anyway, I can turn into my Tigress within form again without a problem.

"Looks like you're having trouble there darling." I told the trainee. "Allow me to show you. The trick is to focus on an animal that can fast."

Duh. That was one way to help the rookies out. I looked at the mini obstacle course. It was a long path that takes about ten seconds in my Tigress Within form and a gap to jump over. Really basic for beginners. A breeze for veterans. I ran full speed to the path and as I reached it, changed forms and was running even faster than I was a few seconds ago. I bet the ten second mark and set the new record for seven seconds flat. Now for the bridge. The gap was wide, meaning that I had to do a double jump, which can also be achieved without changing back to your original form. The bridge was slightly angled, I jumped, making it about halfway across the gap, then did the second jumped, which incase you haven't noticed, was a boost given by your demon partner without the wings being noticeable. I did a flip before landing on the other side and ran to the finishing line. I slowed and walked to the trainee. I was still in my Tigress form, the harder ability to do without running. The trainees stared at me in awe as their instructor told them that it was really easy if they kept their focus. They thanked me for the demonstration and went about practicing, looking more determined than ever to achieve this ability.

"Never thought you would play the role of teacher, Rosa." An all to familiar voice purrs. "It suits you."

"Yeah well, it helped them with learning." I shrugged off.

Sylvia chuckled, apparently she had been doing the same before I showed up.

"I could do with a hand on showing them how to fight with our demon partners." She explained. "Shall we show them how it's done?"

I faced her with a smirk on my face, she thinks that since I'm not at my full strength, she can get an advantage in the fight. It's brain over brawn most of the time. Analyse the enemy, find their week point and strike. This can be achieved with very little strength.

"All right then." She didn't see that answer coming. I summon my pistols, Unforgiven, and went into my fighting stance. "Let's waltz, shall we?"


	11. Chapter 11

We were in out fighting stances. The chatting and the training around us had ceased. I realised where we were standing, and so did everyone else. This particular field was huge, with some symbols to cast a shield around it to stop the debris and shots from hitting everyone outside this field. Sylvia must be expecting me to fight at my full strength because this is where we fight with our demon summons only. It didn't sway me however. I didn't get chosen to guard our Elder for no reason you know. Sylvia smirked, probably thinking that I would not be able to last due to not being at full strength. I couldn't help but let out a chuckle, startling her a little before she regained her composure.

"Don't get too cocky Rosa." She called out confidently. "Wouldn't want you to end up in the Medical Area again."

"Like you can make me." I answered with a slight purr in my tone. "So, shall we waltz? Or not?"

Sylvia sneered before firing a few shots at me. I dodged. She charged towards me, all four of her pistols glowing as she charged up her shots, meaning more damage if I were to get hit. Sylvia aimed, jumped and fired at least five shots from each pistols at me. I merely moved to the side and the bullets past by me, landing in the ground. I wasn't going to go on the offense just yet. I didn't always rely on strength in fights, just study the opponent and their patterns and you'll find a weakness. It didn't matter how random their movements are or how fast they go, the pattern shows up at some point and will become predictable. Sylvia was getting more and more frustrated as I dodged her bullets with ease. The ground shook and the layout of the field began to change. I spotted Sylvia smirk at me before the sight of her was obscured by pillars rising from the ground. I jumped and dodge one after another as the field chopped and changed its look. I heard a humming sound as I dodged the final pillar and listened again. Something cut through the air and coming fast. I used Witch Walk and dodged out the way in my Tigress form. I couldn't see where she was, but she sure as Inferno knows where I am.

The humming returned but I couldn't pinpoint it from having to dodge the bladed feathers again. Wait a minute...feathers, humming. Sylvia is a Hummingbird! No wonder I can't see her. A Hummingbird can only grow up to thirteen centimetres long at most. With the pillars crisscrossing in every direction, she can easily maneuverer past them. My sharp hearing as a Tigress helps, but eyes of a Falcon, I should spot her in no time. I growled as I made a long jump to another pillar. I sped towards the top and when I did, I looked down. I switched forms, from Tigress to Falcon, but I did not take flight just yet. I hopped to the edge again after noticing that my height difference pushed me back from it. Approaching cautiously, I heard humming below me, crouching as it got closer. Summoning feathers around me, the small black Hummingbird with some purple feather at the edge of her wings and purple legs flew upwards and I fired the blades at her. The small bird flew side to side and I took flight as the last blade flew towards her. I could've sworn I saw a sweat drop on the small bird, her wings stopped flapping for a moment as I stared at her with my wings spread out right in front of her. Regaining her senses, she pecked at me before I was able grabbed her with my talon. She chirped as I landed, looking at her with my red eyes, the two long, red feathers on my crown blowing in the wind. She glared at me with her purple ones before chirping again and jabbed my talon, making me let go of her. That hurt, but I must admit that it was a smart move.

As I hopped around to stop the stinging pain go away, a growl caught my attention. I gulped and slowly turned my head to its source. The black furred, purple eyed and clawed lioness, who I could've sworn if it could, was smirking at me. She stalked towards me and my bird instinct was for me to puff out my feather, lean forward and squawked in defiance. I refused to back down. I flew up as Sylvia charged at me. I pecked at her, clawed at her with my talons and dodged her swipes. She jumped, clawing at the air, trying to hit me. Her paw finally swiped and hit me. I hit the ground and rolled. By the time I stopped rolling, I was a Tigress once more. We circled each other, growling and neither of us backing down. We ran at each other, my red claws hitting her jaw, her purple ones hitting mine.

Our aim was not to kill each other, just prove that we can win. Just a little side note. We Umbra wear black robes with a hint of a gold and a colour we like. Mine is red, Sylvia is purple and the trainees default colour is just plain black and white with the hint of gold. The style of our clothing also reflects on our Beast Within forms. So if we wore ribbons, jewellery, belts or any other accessories, our Beast Within forms will be wearing it too. Our watches will always be visible around our next or on our crowns, since some animal forms have crowns for some reason. That's how you identify an Umbra Witch in her Beast Within form.

Sylvia jumped at me. I ran and head butted her torso, knocking her onto her side. I put my front paw at her throat, my face inches from Sylvia's, her growling. I don't normally fight this aggressively. I just fight until I knock them out or they tap out and admit defeat. I was just proving to her that I was no push over. I always had respect for Sylvia, not just because she is one of my Umbra Sisters, but because no matter how much of a black sheep she is to the rest of the clan, her intentions are always true in regards to caring for the clan.

"Sylvia." I began to say. "You may choose to continue this fight. Or you may back down."

The Lioness was suprised by this. I knew she didn't want to, but I still cared enough to let her have a say where as some others don't.

"I wish to continue, Rosa." Was her reply. "I wish to prove to the others that I can fight and prove that I am not some reckless Witch who didn't care for safety the clan."

I now realised that she wanted to prove to the others that she is strong enough to handle tougher missions and if she lasted a fight against me, then I can help her get approved for a higher rank. Right now she was the ones who just followed the orders. Sylvia wanted to be the one who had some control for a changed and if I thought she was worthy, then I can ask the Elder to recommend promoting her.

I changed back to my normal form and stepped back. Sylvia did the same. I gave her a moment to catch her breath before asking:

"If you wanted to be a higher rank instead of a pawn, why didn't you just ask?" I queried.

"I had no idea that it would have been that easy." Sylvia chuckled. "That, and I wanted to give the others a show."

I looked down, nearly all of the clan was gathered around the field to watch this fight. That was one thing she achieved, the crowd was cheering and shouting for the both of us. I smiled. She was the centre of the attention like she always wanted. A crescent moon was spotted in the crowd and I knew the Elder was watching too. She had trusted my judgement in situations like this and I haven't failed her yet.

"How's about I ask the Elder about recommending you to become leader of the patrol groups?" I suggested. "You have already proved to me that you can do more for the clan."

She looks up at me and thought for a moment. She then looks at me the with a grin on her face she answered with:

"For once, I think I'll take you up on that offer."

The pillars lower and disappear into the ground once more. The Elder walked up to us and I kept my promise and talked to the Elder about allowing Sylvia to lead the patrol groups.

"Rosa. Are you sure that Sylvia can fulfil that role?" The Elder asked cautiously.

I saw Sylvia frown slightly. I promised to give her a chance and I am sure as Inferno that I'll keep to my promise. I managed to convince her that I will personally supervise Sylvia and report back to her so that she can have a fair chance to prove that she is fit for the role. The current leader can train her and report back to me if necessary. She pondered for a few tense moments.

"Sylvia, have you ever lead a group on a mission before?" She asked.

"A few times." Sylvia answered confidently. "We were sent on some missions to handle some Angels and Demons and I had to plan the course of attacks."

Those who were in her group were in the group and confirmed this.

"You are to report to the leader and receive further training for that role. You may be promoted to trainee scout leader." The Elder concluded with a smile.

The Clan cheered for their sister and were patting her on the back as we walked back inside. I was hugged from the side and saw Sylvia, eyes now bright with a large, long forgotten genuine grin. I patted her back having feeling now relieved that I kept my promise and allowed her to receive more trust from the clan.

"Thank you Rosa."


	12. Chapter 12

It has been a month since I had gotten Sylvia her Trainee Scout Leader position. As it turned out, Sylvia was quite knowledgeable about the position and, after a few missions and how she would react to a certain situation, was made leader of her own group, with five more witches who specialises in different yet essential skills. As I said to the Elder, I made sure to check up on her from time to time since she had excelled in the ranks and exceeded expectations. I was fully healed by this time, obviously, and decided that it would be a good idea to join her on a mission after reports came that some more Angels and Demons have been showing up again and causing to trouble. Through out the month, they were showing up every so often and I was still doing some research in between missions. I found Sylvia with the rest of her group planning their attack on the rogues.

"You two stay on the rooftops. There is high chances of them flying around so it would be good to have a visual on them at all times." She told the Field Scientist Witch and the Surveillance Witch. "The rest of you will spread out but stay within eye sight of each other. We don't need to be ambushed without someone knowing about it and helping out."

Sylvia sounded more mature now, which fitted her role really well. Her team had given her high regard and respect since she became their leader so there wasn't any harm in joining them in their mission just this once. After the briefing, she finally noticed that I was at the archway and walked up to me with a smile.

"Good Morning Rosa." She greets me. "The usual check up then?"

"Well I could make this the last one since there doesn't seem to be any issues." I informed her, her smile growing wider. "I hope you don't mind that I can join you on your mission?"

"Bored, huh?" She joked. "Yes, that's fine by me. I feel like showing off anyway."

By showing off, she means that she wants to build up a little reputation. Sylvia already had one by being a good leader and taking care of the clan in any way she could. If what our sisters says is true, I suppose I could give that reputation a little boost. I nod my head with a chuckle.

"You guessed right my friend. When do we start?"

"Tomorrow in Vigrid." Sylvia answered. I must have flinched a little because she added. "Don't worry, you got back up now if anything happens to ya."

I took notice that two people on her team were the ones who I answered some questions about weapons and accessories after I came back from meeting Balder a month ago, who I also met three-four times again afterwards. The Medic Witch and the Recon Witch smiled at us and joined in on the conversation.

"I was wondering what became of you two." I greeted them.

They hugged me and the Recon expert said:

"Long time no see. If it weren't for you helping us with the weapons and accessories, we wouldn't have made it into this line of work."

"Yeah, thanks a tonne. We've been wanting to do this line of work for ages and now we're in the same team." The Medic added.

They really wanted this job? Well at least they have the skills to help. We caught up and I learned that they sparred with each other from time to time for training, which reminded me, now that I had time to think about it, Sylvia and I never summoned the demons in our fight. I can't really remember much of those conversations now, but I do know that it lasted until lunch. I decided that I wanted some time to myself, or maybe with Balder if he was there, and left for my little sanctuary. To get there, you have to go into the forest and keep going East until you come across a small clearing. In that small clearing, there is a small, broken wall to your right, go that way and you'll come across a small lake about fifteen minutes later if your walking. This is like a decoy lake if anyone finds out about my secret sanctuary. Go North and you'll soon reach the little sanctuary. In total, this will be a forty-five minute walk. Since no-one seems to bother going this far, I called this place my own. The same can be said for Balder, from what he told me during our time together. As friend might I add. That's all we were to each other. If we were to go further than that, I had no idea what could happen next.

I do now. I have no regrets.

We would meet up and talk about our missions and what we had found in our research about the Eyes of the World and stuff in general. As far as I know, we were allowed to be friends but most in both clans avoided each other respectively because they feared on what could happen if they did become friends. The few who did never went further than that in respect of the Clan Law. No one knew about me and Balder being friends though, mainly because we kept it a secret in our little sanctuary.

I arrived there and saw that I was the only one there. I shrugged and sat down near the lake, which had the fallen Autumn leaves floating in it. The Autumn breeze was calming and I lay down to look at the clouds above. It looked as if the clouds had some sort of brush went through the clouds and left some screaks. One image I found cool was in the shape of an owl or some other type of bird, with it's wings stretch out as it flew across the sky. I summoned Madama Khepri since this was her favourite time of the year, even when she was human. We chatted about the same thing as I had previously mentioned when Khepri suddenly remembered something.

"When I was an Umbra Witch many years ago, the Eyes of the World showed up." She recalled. "They appeared in their respective clans, Left Eye of Darkness to the Umbra Clan and the Right Eye of Light to the Lumen Sages. They appeared as soon as the second Overseer is born, it doesn't matter which Eye came first or when. I remember that as soon as the second Overseer is born, the colours of the Left and Right Eye had shown up. As they were young at the time, they had to learn the advantages and disadvantages to the power they wielded. I was friends with the Overseer of the Left Eye and I had noticed that she was more stronger than the average Umbra. Years went by and the Overseers had made the decision to keep things the same and the Eyes disappeared once more."

"Friends with the Overseer, huh? That must have had some advantages." I replied when Khepri finished. "What was that like?"

"She was treated the same as any other member of the clan. Just because she had the Left Eye doesn't excuse her of doing something stupid. Other than that, life was pretty normal."

"The appearance of the Eyes had the same effect and events like what's happening now?" I asked, wondering if this was all connected.

Khepri folded her arms and closed her eyes as she thought of her past. She said that she remembered hearing that the Angels and Demon always tend to act up like this when it is close to the Eyes appearance. About year before they appear. That must mean their power will be growing stronger with each passing day. This starts to make some sense.

"Then the Elder's will know about who could possess the Eyes soon." A male voice called out from the trees.

I just lowered my head, meaning that the figure is upside down to me, I'm still lying down. I did nt flinch however, because like I said before, their is only two of us who knows of this location.

"What took you so long Balder?" I joked, grinning at him. "I thought you somehow forgotten about me."

I pouted as I said this. He chuckled, me following close behind, and sat down beside me. I noticed from the corner of my eye that Khepri was smirking at us and went back to staring at the lake.

"Yes." She began to say. "They will know soon." With a serious look on her face she turns to us and says. "But as a Demon, I can also sense the Eyes' power before the Elders do."

We both stare at her and she confirmed that she indeed can sense one of the Eyes. Which one she does not know.

"Who Khepri? Who do you think possess the Eyes?" I asked, more curious than worried.

She turned her head away, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Khepri?"

"The one who possesses one of the Eyes...may be one of you two."


	13. Chapter 13

Hey guys. Sorry I was late on updating the story, I was actually busy writing another story based around the game Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City. Not gonna spoil it but I think you would like it once I upload it. Anyway, enjoy the chapter pps :)

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May be…one of us? There's no way it could be one of us. Then again, anything is possible at this point. If one of us truly posses The Eye, then what will happen? What choice do we make for the future of the world.

"How would we know that we possess The Eye?" Balder asked, not too fazed at the news. Although, he might be good at hiding his feelings.

"There is little ways to identify the Overseer, but it is possible." Khepri answered. "As I recall, they Overseer will have incredible strength and can overcome any obstacle thrown at them."

"We both didn't become The Elder's bodyguards for nothing." I noted.

"Another is that The Eye will glow." She added. "But that is only when both Overseers are born."

That's something to worry about for another time. The fact that one of us is an Overseer does not change my view about Balder.  
Balder turns to me and just shrugs.

"If it is one of us, let's use that power wisely. Nothing will stop us being friends, right Umbra?"

Yeah, we're friends. Something I forgot happened at that point.

"No way. Thank you for the information Khepri. You have nothing to worry about."

Khepri smiled before returning to Inferno. Balder looks at the sun and saw that it was getting late.

"Until we meet again." He says, as he returned home.

"See you when I can." I reply, knowing that I have a few missions before I have some free time again.

I had a mission tomorrow with Sylvia and I wanted to get some shut eye so I won't be out of it and get attacked by an Angel or Demon again. And that's what I did.

The next day, I woke up early and left for the Library, deciding it was best to research a little bit more on the Angels and Demons and their connections to The Eyes. All that I have previously mentioned was all I could come up with and I juggled with the idea of asking the Elder herself for answer and why we were not told that we were actually chosen to guard The Eye.

I heard footsteps approaching me in the near empty Library and looked from the corner of my eye to see who it was. Sylvia? I checked the time on my watch, the mission still won't start for another two hours. Maybe she needed something? I waited to see if she would walk up and talk to me or just research herself, like she normally would.

"Hey Rosa." She greets me.

"Good Morning, Sylvia."

"I was wondering if you can help me prepare for the mission? I can't make up my mind on which weapons and accessories I will use." Sylvia requested.

"Do you carry any accessories? In general I mean." I queried, confused.

"To be honest, no. I never went on missions that required any before you got me this job. I only dealt with low ranking enemies." She confessed. "And seeing that you are always on missions when you're not guarding the Elder and all, I thought you would be perfect to help me out."

That's right. Sylvia never dealt with stronger enemies before, so she wouldn't have any knowledge, or she has simply forgotten, which accessory does what. Easy fix really and I have finished my own research so I might as well kill some more time. I recommended that she'd use the weapon she's experienced with, Kafka. For accessories, after I described the uses of the accessories, she chose to use Selene's Light. When equipped with Selene's Light, Witch Time will automatically trigger when the Witch is hit by an enemy, so she will be able to avoid the rest of the combo attacks from fast enemies such as Gracious & Glorious.

With that problem solved, we went to rendezvous with the rest of the team for todays mission.

"Alright team." Sylvia starts. "As you all know, some rogue Angels and Demon have been battling each other in Vigrid for an unknown reason. The reason we're stopping them now is because the Elder wanted us to observe their action as to why they are doing this. With them quarantined by our Sisters, who are keeping the damage to a minimum, but now that there's more of them and damage to Vigrid increasing by the hours, the Elder has ordered us to clean up the mess. Got it so far?"

The team nod and say "Yes ma'am."

"Right. As you may have noticed, we have Rosa with us today." I gave them a small wave. "She is here to observe us and to assist in the mission. We are to retrieve as much information as you can, if possible. Remember the plan and don't let each other out of your sight or earshot. Lets go."

With that being said, the team shouted "Right!" enthusiastically and we left our home to Vigrid.

At least I have back up this time.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Ok, I have finally finished college about 2 weeks ago and got my motivation back for some story writing. Sorry for making you think I just ditched the story without telling you. I'll upload some the next couple of days. Please enjoy and forgive me for my lack of chapters. Also feel free to leave a comment and enjoy your day. Sorry again XD

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As we approached Vigrid, I began to realise that it was rather silly to be afraid of going somewhere just because you had one bad experience that can't be helped, in my case it was being injured while on a mission. That was bound to happen at some point in this job. The clean up crew, is what I nicknamed them as a joke, and I reached the centre of the town. If you didn't know anything about the current events and came here while on patrol, your first thought of this place would be 'who fired all the cannons in every direction possible?'

The smoke was still rising from the large flames as it formed something similar to very thick fog with the burning embers floating around in the wind. Those who didn't have their cloth covering their face, pulled them up to avoid inhaling the smoke and we had to squint our eyes, trying to see anything past five feet ahead of us. We made our way to the centre of Vigrid and that meant we were in the middle of the flames. You'd think we were in a middle of a burning furnace when you see everything on fire around us. We were finding it difficult to see anything with all the smoke and embers blowing in the wind. If we wanted to save what was left of Vigrid, we had to douse the flames to prevent them from spreading. There were water fountains through out the streets and if we were able to break some of them, we can stop some of the flames. There was also a river/lake nearby which we could use as well. We split up to complete the objective. I made my way to one part of the river and summoned Khepri.

"You know what to do." I told her, pointing to the flames.

She nods and takes a handful of water and poured it onto the flames, extinguishing most of the flames on the buildings. It took a few minutes but we eventually got a majority of the fire out, with no chances of it spreading to the surrounding buildings and trees. Khepri returns to Inferno and I rendezvous with the others at the centre.

"Ok sisters, it appear that the rogue Angels and Demons have upped their attacks and are attacking anything in their way." Sylvia summarised. "The best we can do is located them and slow them down until back up arrives."

"Back up? When did you ask for back up?" The Medic Witch asked.

" I didn't. While we were stopping the flames, one of our Sisters on patrol approached me with a message from the Elder." She answered.

"A message, hm? Pray tell?" I said, wondering what the Elder had said.

"The Elder of the Lumen Sages has requested that he send out a group of his warriors to assist us on locating the Rogues. Considering that Angels are involved, it would seem fair that they will deal with that problem, as we deal with the Rogue Demons." She relayed the message.

Fair enough. It would lessen the work and will lower the risk of any of us getting injured (again). We agreed that it would make this mission a lot easier and returned to searching for the Rogues in every street and alley, inside the abandoned buildings and followed the recent acts of destruction. Somehow, their tracks have gone cold. We'd arrived to the recently destroyed street but we would never be there on time to see where they disappeared to.

"How the hell do they keep disappearing like that?" Sylvia asked no one in particular. She looked up at the Surveillance Umbra, who was on the roof tops. "Spotted anything yet?"

"Nothing ye-. Wait a minute!" She squinted her eyes at something ahead of us.

"What is it?" I asked, guessing at what she sees.

"ROGUE ANGELS AND DEMONS! TWO STREETS AHEAD!" She called out, pointing at the streets visible to her and another one of our sisters. "THEY'RE BY WHERE THE FRUIT AND JEWELRY STANDS ARE USUALLY SET UP."

I knew the exact spot she was talking about, I use to wander around the streets just to see what goes on and what goods they found. I pay for them of course, we're Umbra Warriors, not thieves.

"Let's go ladies."

We all turned into our beast and birds within forms. I was in my Tigress within form, no need to fly when you know a few shortcuts and alleys, Sylvia was in her Hummingbird within form, Demolition was a Buzzard, Surveillance was a Peregrine Falcon, Medic was a Clouded Leopard, Field Scientist was a Golden Cat, and Recon was a Jaguar.

We charged toward them and less than thirty seconds later, we finally found those pesky Rogues fighting each other and causing massive damage to nearby buildings and properties. They were a mix between Third Sphere and Second Sphere ranked Angels and nearly every demon we can name in the Lemegeton's Guidebook. It was chaos, you'd mistake it for Inferno easily at this point. Flames were launching from the windows, glass shattered everywhere, chairs and Angels/Demons are being thrown around in every direction.

We charged at them, those who were birds pecked at the flying Angels and Demons, while the rest of us clawed at the rest. There was a scream above me as I bit into a Decorations that I caught in mid jump, still in my Tigress form. It was one of the residents of Vigrid! She was holding onto a young girl, must be her daughter or a relative of some sort, as the building around them began to collapse.

"KHEPRI!" I called out to my Infernal Partner.

Khepri's arm came out of the Portal and had barely caught the structure above the two. They looked up in fear and confusion. They can't see any of us. To them, all this destruction came out of no where. Sylvia took notice of this and made herself visible to the two.

"It's ok, follow me." She ushered them.

Once they were able to exit the building, Khepri let go of the debris and it all crashed through the second floor and onto the ground floor. She shook her hand slightly before returning to Inferno. It didn't look like the debris hurt her probably got a splinter from the wood or something, I'll check on her after the mission.

We attacked the Rogues, but before long we were surrounded whilst distracted. We looked at them, they stared right back at us. Other than the sound of flames and falling buildings, it was silent. All three sides planning on what move they'll take next. Before I even blinked, we were charging in all different direction. Six Umbra Witches against many Rogues, but we weren't backing down just yet. We used our weapons, torture attacks, summons, anything we had we used to fight the enemy back. I was fighting against a Labolas when suddenly, rays of light came shining down from above and howls can be heard. Everyone looked toward the source and we saw that our back up had arrived. My eye caught one wolf in particular, knowing full well who it was. I smiled as I took my chance and shot the distracted Labolas, causing the brawl to continue once more.


	15. Chapter 15

The brawl continued as more Rogues appeared, but thanks to the combined strengths of both the Umbra and the Lumen, we managed to fight against the waves of enemies. But then something strange happened.

The Rogues just froze in place, similar to puppets when they hang stagnant from the puppeteers strings. Portals to Inferno and Paradiso appear and they retreat to their respective realms. The barriers disappear and all was silent once more, just like when we kept missing them a few times prior.

A familiar white wolf wearing golden chains made it's way towards me. I smiled at him as I say,

"You Sages sure know how to make an enterance."

He barked and it almost looked like he was grinning at me. So I responded with patting him on the head, which was met with a confused look from Balder as he changed back.

"Was that really necessary?" He chuckled.

"What were you expecting? I didn't have a bone to give you." I joked. He smiled as we saw the rest of his group interact with ours. "So Sage, have you any idea what just happened.

"We know as much as you do kitten." he replied, smirking at the word kitten. "Though it has been reported that Vigrid isn't the only area being affected by this strange occurrence."

I lean in closer to him as I enquired, "Do you think it has something to do with the Eyes of the World making an appearance soon?"

"It would appear so."

The energy the Eyes gave of a faint energy that only a few had noticed so far, but it would appear and disappear every now and then. But it seemed to be enough for the balance to be affected. If the Eyes of the World were truly going to be possessed by either Balder or myself, we could accidently cause more trouble and not realise it. When I brought this up with Balder, he shared the same thought and we both agreed that we would talk to our Elders about the situation.

Reports were exchanged and the debris /damage that was caused in the fight had been cleared, with the fires now extinguished. I checked if Khepri's hand was ok, she was fine and only got a splinter from the debris. Finally, we all went home to give our reports to the Elder.

I began to think. Until the Eyes finally appear, more chaos will ensue until there is balance once more. Is one Eye going to show up before the other? Why all the chaos? The Angels and Demons can sense their presence better than we can, most likely due to the fact that they have gained more wisdom and strength than their former comrades, Lumen and Umbra. The more I learn about the Eyes, the more ways that I might figure out a way to locate the Eyes.

It wasn't until we reached home that I decided to ask the Elder my questions once the report was given to her. We returned home, the sun was setting, a tint of a reddish orange colour became visible. Looking at the tired group I had joined for the mission gave me the opportunity to have a reason to see our Elder. Not surprisingly, the tired Sylvia did not disagree. I climbed the stairs to our Elder's office and stopped in front of the door. I debated whether I should really ask about the Eyes or not. I am her trusted warrior/bodyguard, and she never had a problem answering my questions before. But that doesn't mean that there was a limit to what I can ask. Before I could knock on the wooden door, it had opened with my hand just a few centimetres from it.

"Rosa, care to tell me why you are lingering in front of my door?" She greeted me, not looking angry nor surprised.

"I have the have the reports from todays mission." I replied, sheepishly handing the file to her.

She took it with a straight face. Losing that earlier little confidence I had gained, I turned to leave before hearing a sigh and the Elder saying:

"That's not all, is it Rosa?"

I mentally debated if I should ask, or do more research before asking. The latter could take more time, where as I could attempt to ask now and get it over with.

"Actually, there was something I was meaning to ask ma'am." I returned to face her. "It's about the Eyes of the World."

"Aah. Well that will not surprise me that you would be the one to ask me such questions, you did like to study after all." She gave me a small, understanding smile as she said this. "Come in."

I had entered the office I had become familiar with over the years. Not many know what our Elder's office looks like, as they would rather keep the drama outside instead of their second home. They spent nearly all their time in there after all.

The office was similar to a small library, shelves lined the wall behind the big, parchment covered wooden desk. It seemed that she was doing research of her own. There was a painting to the left of the room. The painting was had two halves to it. The left side depicts Umbra receiving the red eye whilst the right depict the Lumen receiving a blue eye. Each half had their respective colours to represent the darkness and the light. It was when the humans first received the Eyes of the World. Underneath said painting, was a book containing the history of the Umbra along with the events being written down by previous Elders. Some pages contained so wars that had taken place amongst the human, while some contained instances of the Rogues attacking everyone.

"Take a look, it may contain the answers you seek." The Elder suggests while returning to her desk. "Our previous Elders may have experience the same if not similar events in the past, regarding the Eyes."

I walk over to the book. I had no idea what I was looking for, but anything concerning the Rogues may be a good place to start. The first entry explained what the Eyes could possibly be. I read the passage.

 _"Many years ago, the great Jubileus had graced us with the Eyes of the World. She had given us these gifts to allow us humans to seek our own paths for the future of our world. We have all been given the ability to control creatures of both Heaven and Hell. Demons and Angels. The gift to enhance our chances of survival with physical strength and agility to move gracefully and the knowledge for medicine and technology to advance our civilisation._

 _The gifts are not physical gems however. We believe them to be spiritual and only those true to the great Jubileus can possess them and use their true powers. This has caused a rift amongst fellow humans however. Hopefully this can be sorted as soon as we understand the use of this gift."_

This was the very first entry of this book. Jubileus had given the humans a gift to survive? Sounded like a bit of gibberish to me. I continued to read.

 _"The time had come where humans cannot agree what the meaning of this gift, thus creating a complete split in the city. There were people who believed that they can be used for power and to take complete control of the world, Heaven and Hell . While others believed that they should be used for light, creating complete sanctuary and tranquillity, a safe haven. This created this split, where we agreed to split the gift. The power hungry side, chose to take the Red Eye and the peace keepers chose to take the Blue Eye, both named respectively the Left Eye of Darkness and the Right Eye of Light. The followers of the darkness chose to take control of the Demons of Hell while the Angel were control by the followers of Light. Heaven and Hell were renamed Paradiso and Inferno."_

 _"All is not well since the split. Something similar to a war has taken place as those of different belief fought amongst each other and in the process, the Angels and Demons had began attacking both sides. We are not able to take control of them. We do not know where these Eyes have disappeared to. Both sides are accusing each other now, fighting and killing each other for the possession of the Eyes. Oh great Jubileus, please grace us and allow us to find the answers we seek."_

 _"Our prayers have been answered as two brave warriors fought against the Angels and Demons. A man and a woman, have gained control of some of the heavenly and hellish creatures and used them in battle, each using a chant for different creatures. They fought bravely and soon, the peace had been restored. These brave warriors had explained how they travelled to Inferno and Paradiso to learn the ways of battle, the language of these creatures and the meaning to they Eyes._

 _They explained how we must balance the Light and Darkness to avoid utter chaos, like the one we had almost made irreversible. The split groups became clans, now named in respect of these warriors. The female Umbra and the male Lumen. They had become leaders of the clans and announced that when a great danger is nearby, only those with a truly kind heart and bravery may possess the Eyes in order to maintain the balance in the world."_

That was how we came into possession of the Eyes of the World. From what I read, when something is ready to try and destroy life as we know it. Is that the purpose of them?

"This tower." The Elder started, once she noticed I was finished reading and began to walk through the glass doors and onto the brick balcony. "Became the Symbol of the Umbra after that event. We also built the two statues as a tribute to the two warriors."

I followed her outside. It had the perfect view of the clock tower, the symbol of the Umbra and why we actually wear watches as a sort of tribute to the first Umbra Witch.

"The events are happening all over again, aren't they?" I asked, looking at the rising moon behind the tower. "The Eyes will return again soon?"

"Correct. They have not appeared for some number of generations now. I might not seen them in my lifetime, nor do I know what exactly happened all those years ago. But maybe another can tell you about their last appearance."

The one who has seen the last near disaster, will tell me what happened? How on Earth can I talk to someone from so many years go? They would be long dead by now….or is she? I thought it over and came to the conclusion that there is someone who knew of the past events. Was there to witness first hand. She was an Umbra Witch after all. I knew where to find her.

"PDEE BARMA!"


	16. Chapter 16

Khepri climbed up through the portal from Inferno. She noticed that I was with the Elder and smiled.

"So, what do you need me for?" She asked.

"Khepri, remember when you told me about the last Umbra to possess the Left Eye?" I asked.

"Yes?"

"Was that during the last time it appeared?"

"I had a feeling that you would ask me that." Khepri replied, folding her arms before answering. "Yes. It was a time of chaos for us. Rogues were attacking anything and anyone who got in there way."

"Ah. So what is happening now, happened all those years ago as well." Our Elder spoke up. "Then you know how to deal with this matter before it gets out of hand?"

"Not exactly." Khepri hesitantly answered. "We were lucky back then. It was only by chance that the those with the Eyes didn't turn against us and we had their strength to fight and maintain balance."

"By chance? Lucky? What do you mean Khepri?" I was confused.

" _Only those with a truly kind heart and bravery may possess the Eyes in order to maintain the balance in the world."_ She recites the journal. "I remember reading that myself when I was with the Left Eye of Darkness' possessor."

"That's right. You were friends with her, weren't you. She chose to keep the balance." I confirmed.

Our Elder looked at both of us in surprise. Probably because I had actually learned this information before she did or maybe it was because I knew already, I don't know. Khepri continued to look back at her memories.

"There was one thing I had not told you. Nor was it mentioned in that journal." She shook her head, looking like she was trying to choose her next word wisely. "The decision to maintain that balance, that choice did not come easily to them. It was hard for them to come to that decision."

Not the first choice the considered? What is that supposed to mean. The journal said that those with a kind heart and are brave may possess the Eyes. How was it difficult for them to choose?

"When the chaos kicked up, the Left Eye of Darkness was the only Eye present in the world. The Right Eye of Light, was yet to appear. We only knew she had the Eye due to her strength and ability being more superior than most, even when she was having the same amount of training as us." She thought for a moment. "Her left eye would also glow red from time to time, mainly when she was ready to battle."

"So whoever possess' the Eye, their eye would glow in in the respective colour on that side. Red for the left, Blue for the right." The Elder pieced together. "But wait, where was the Right Eye?"

"The Lumen Sage who possessed it was on a journey to discover the truth about the Eyes. He believed that Jubileus was not the original creator of them. By the time he had returned, very little information gained and we were struggling to fight the Rogues back. They had defeated them, and both possessor's continued the research. Last I saw of them, we were fighting against a Iustitia. Next thing I knew, I was a demon in Inferno."

"Killed in Action?" The Elder asked.

"I think I got killed by the rainbow laser it shoots. Not what I was expecting, but that was the last thing I saw." Khepri chuckled. "Can't change the past, but I was surprised to wake up as a demon."

"Did you ever find out if they ever finished their research?" I asked.

"Are you still told that Jubileus is the original creator of the Eyes?" Khepri asked, I nod my head. "Then I believe that they never finished that research, due to either them making their maker or the evidence of such was not easy to get to."

"What is it you believe Madama Khepri? Do you believe that Jubileus is the creator of the Eyes of the World?" The Elder asked.

"A Goddess cannot can't create something she is unfamiliar with unless she has a counter-part to maintain the balance of control. Queen Sheba would have that control. So I believe they were on to something."

We found that yes, one can control both Eyes of the World. But the leaders/Goddess' of Inferno and Paradiso is a little far fetched. Whatever it was they were looking for, that research was gone. If either Balder or myself possess an Eye, we could possibly find out more about them, continuing the research and finding out why these Rogues keep attacking us in the first place. I'll discuss this with him the next time we meet. For now, I think I found some of the answers I was looking for.

"Thanks for the information, Khepri. I'll see you later." I say to her as the Portal to Inferno opened up. "Good night."

"Good Night Rosa." She replied.

Khepri returns to Inferno. The Elder turned to me, looking a little puzzled but at the same time, she had some questions of her own answered as well. We look at the clock tower, it was reaching midnight now. With a sigh, she turns to me to say:

"Rosa, if this theory proves to be true, then I do not know what will happen if the others were to find out. I suggest that you continue with your duties, keep quiet about what you heard on this night. We do not wish to cause more chaos than the Rogues. The rule will still apply to you as well. Until we can find out more that is." She told me.

"Yes ma'am." I co-operate with the idea. "I can't say I blame you for this decision."

I was allowed to go now. She said I was allowed to have a couple of days off because of all the research I had done and the missions I did without a break, allowing me to spend the days doing as I pleased. I wonder how it went with Balder.


	17. Chapter 17

As I walked through the torch lit hallways to my room, I was wondering about how I was going to spend my days off. The main thing I do is either study or hang out at my little sanctuary. I wanted a break from studying and I always go to the waterfall when I have nothing to do. I can always check on how the others are holding up after our mission, but that will have to wait until morning since they would be sleeping by now. I'll figure it out in the morning. I went to my room, went to bed and quickly fell asleep, not realising how tired I was.

*THE NEXT DAY*

"Wakey wakey." a voice beckoned, while the sound of the curtains being opened was heard and allowing a bright light to enter the room.

I object by covering retreating under the covers, not wanting to be disturbed. Yeah, I can be a little lazy on my days off too. Who wouldn't be? The covers were then taken from me and I lazily looked up at whoever decided to disturb my slumber. It was Sylvia.

"What is it you need, Sylvia?" I mumbled, retrieving my pillow to shield me from the morning light. "What time is it?"

"I just wanted to make sure you didn't snooze all day." She answered, smiling at my childish behaviour that is rarely ever seen. "It's 11:30 in the morning by the way. I just thought it would be fair that you don't waste your days off."

She's right there. Sleeping in all day would just make me even more lazier. I grumbled as I sat up to stretch. In the middle of stretching, the covers we thrown over me again, along with Sylvia laughing at my reaction. I give her a glare as I moved them, before chuckling as well.

"I appreciate the wake up call, really. But I still have no idea how to spend my time. I don't want to study, nor do I feel like sparring today." I told her, knowing full well that she would have some ideas.

"Well, even though the centre of town has been destroyed, there's still the markets on the outskirts for visitors." She suggested. "The markets there always have some interesting stuff there. Or there is some sight seeing outside of Vigrid."

"Outside of Vigrid, huh? That gives me an idea. I could visit my old teacher, Sabine in Crescent Valley. I haven't seen her in years." I remembered, feeling guilty that all I did was write to her and not had the chance to visit.

Sylvia told me that she was on her way there now to collect some reports to give to the Elder, but can wait another while till I get ready to tag along. I thanked her as she left my room. I got up, taking a good look of the trees ahead and breathed in the fresh air. The smell of the fresh forest air always woken me up in the morning, always a sign of a promising day ahead. Well, to me anyway.

It didn't take long for me to change into my robes and met with Sylvia the lunch hall, with my breakfast on the table. I again thanked her.

"You know, there was one thing I realised when we were fighting at the arena." She says, catching my attention. "We never did summon our partners that whole time. Hehe, never noticed until I was finally leader of my own team."

"The next time we spar then?" I asked, she nods her head. "Well I don't mind a bit of sparring practice on my days off, I just don't feel like it today."

She smiled in agreement. I've only been awake an hour and already I was off to Crescent Valley. Though, it wasn't by foot this time. A group of Lumen were here to pick up a team of our sister for a group mission and they offered to drop us off at Crescent Valley, as they were passing by there on their way to their destination. Let's just say that we didn't know that a Kinship could be used as a mode of transport. It was weird and we didn't have a lot of trust that it wouldn't turn rogue. About a couple of hours of chatting with the group later, we reached Crescent Valley.

Sylvia left to find the Head of this area, while I went in search of my former mentor. I recall that in the afternoon, she would be teaching the student witches how to use the dark arts. Crescent Valley is a place that used to belong to the Umbra Witches. I took a look around the area. A statue of an Umbra and a Lumen Sage were standing back to back, the Umbra statue overseeing Crescent Valley while the Lumen statue oversees the Sunrise Valley respectively. The Lumen and Umbra usually have meetings taking place at these statues, or so I have heard. I continue on the stone bridge and saw that there was a waterfall where the water fell through the clouds below. I entered pass a stone archway to find myself in a hallway with some rooms one either side. I tried to remember which room it was that my mentor before guessing that it would be the door further down, near halfway up the hallway. The door was open, which allowed me to take a peak inside. Sure enough, there she was. My former teacher sitting at her desk reading a book like she usually did, Sabine was the reason I quite like to read when she introduced me to some books on history along with learning how to create certain medicines. I knock on the door.

"Who is it?" She asked.

I walk into the room. At first, she seemed surprised. Sabine walks up to me, still surprised before hugging me.

"Rosa! It has been a long time, how are you? My, have you grown." She asked and comments, sounding really happy.

"Hello Sabine, I'm sorry I haven't seen you for a long time." I replied, now feeling more guilty that I didn't visit more often.

I must have had the guilty look on my face, because she replied with; "Now now child. You don't have to apologise to me. You must have been so busy guarding the Elder along with the research about the recent attacks."

She was right. I'm quite used to doing this job to the point I don't always remember I was doing my job. It became second nature to me. But now that I got a few days off, I want to spend the time I have doing whatever.

"Yes. It's been quite hectic recently and we still have little information as to what is causing it." I told her, before quietly adding. "All I know is that it probably has something to do with the Eyes of the world."

"Ah yes, I teach the students about Jubileus still. But from what I have studied, the Eyes were brought to us to maintain peace and balance in the world. Though I do believe that said balance is not as it should be." Sabine comments. "The more experience witches and their demon partners have been noticing this as well, including myself."

I always trust what my mentor had to say. She taught me from a young age that we Umbra always take pride in what we do. That we were more advanced in technology, such as the Umbran Armour and weaponry, medicine along with the use of the dark arts and magic. Even when I was grew up training under the Elder, Sabine was always allowed to come and teach me.

At the time, I was happy to train under the Elder. But as time passed by without seeing my friends, I began to feel more and more depressed. The Elder had surprised me by bringing Sabine to teach me what I needed to know whilst the Elder taught me combat styles and weaponry skill, what I learned from both of them became essential to my survival on more than one occasion. Sabine even convinced the Elder to allow me to go home every now and then to visit my friends. She was like the mother I never had. I looked up to her as my idol, even to the point that when I retire as the Elder's guard and trusted warrior, I will go on to teach the future generation of witches.

"Come along. There is something I would like to show you that might be of interest." She lead me out the room, down the stone hallway and towards the study areas. "It's a new project we're doing with the Lumen Sages."

That caught my interest. We reached the enterance of the study area, where she nods for me to enter first. I opened a large round stone ball. It had what appears to be a core of some sort. There was a group of Lumen and Umbra studying it, wondering how they were going to get it to work.

"This is our latest creation created by the powers of both Lumen and Umbra. Golem." Sabine began to explain. "We got the idea to create them from a story. You might know the one. The tale of the God of chaos creating the Guardian to obey only it's owner and protect his city, along with the Remembrances of Time, which came to be known as the Garden of God, and the Guardian was the creature strong enough to do so. It could change its form at will to do whatever it take to defeat its opponent in the swiftest and quickest way possible.

We discovered this creature God created and imitated this technology to build our own solider of war, the Golem. Golem is to be used as a protector of our homelands. "

I knew of the story and finished the tale:

"The original Guardian that God created however, is no where to be found and it is unknown what it could be doing now. Who knows, it might still be lying in wait somewhere, keeping its territory safe from intruders. We might never know."

Sabine smiled, not at all surprised of what I knew. I was more interested on how they created Golem and if it was safe to use. It's created incase of a major battle, but hopefully that won't be happening anytime soon.


	18. Chapter 18

After seeing the Golem, Sabine and I continued the walk to a bridge outside. The bride connects two of the hallways together, so it would be the wooden double doors, outside bridge, then the wooden double doors again. It was a nice warm day, so they remained open to allow the cool breeze to enter as well as the sunshine. We can see the waterfalls from here, with the sunshine reflecting off the water creating rainbows along the way. It was a nice view that I remember seeing a lot before leaving for Vigrid.

"This place hasn't changed a bit." I comment, reflecting on childhood memories.

"No, not a lot has change. But for how long will it last?" Sabine replied.

I was confused momentarily, I must have looked it. She noticed and told me:

"Crescent Valley was not immune to the recent attack from the Rogues. Recently, we were attacked by some Rogues but thankfully we were prepared and they were quickly eliminated."

Maybe that was the report that Sylvia was collecting. Sabine showed me some of the damages the Rogues did. Some scratches were deeply embedded into the stone, bullet holes were not too far away from them too. Even some of the rooms were off limits until they were repaired of structural damage.

Speak of the devil. Sylvia had returned and informed us that the report had been collected, so whenever I was ready, we'll return to Vigrid. I introduce her to my former mentor, with a short Q&A from both of them. Sabine offered to take us by the waterfalls to teach us how to turn into another form that can be useful for us. I never actually needed to use that form and ended up forgetting due to lack of use but I went along with it. Besides, it would give me the chance that I had taken her advice and training seriously.

We travelled down the lower levels of Crescent Valley before being at ground level, walking through the wooden double doors to the woods in front of us. We can hear the waterfalls all around us as we approached one not to far from where we had left. There was the training grounds, but in the middle of it was a lake. Here we would train to fight underwater as a beast within and whatever demon is most suited here.

"Now ladies, have you ever trained under these conditions?" Sabine asked, knowing my answer already.

We were trained to fight in the conditions of where we live. There was not a lot of, if any, lakes or rivers back in Vigrid. So there was not a lot of need for a beast within form that's adapted to water, as I mentioned before it made me forget my underwater combat training. Sylvia shook her head, she had only received the basic combat training, the one that every witch receives, and she taught herself most of her combat skills. She was still learning something new in training as a team leader. Sabine nods her head as we continued to walk towards a lake with a waterfall above it.

"Regardless whether or not you live in somewhere with large bodies of water in the area, you should at least remember your training." pointing that fact at me, making me scratch the back of my head in slight embarrassment. "Your movements are obviously more slower, making your attacks be less accurate. You need to learn how to use your beast within that is capable of fluent movement in the water to make that disadvantage into a useful and possibly life saving advantage." She began to explain. "As long as you remember how to use your magic, you won't have to worry about breathing underwater either. You should know how to create a barrier around yourself to do this. Just concentrate on that barrier and you should not have a problem."

It was more of teaching Sylvia than it is of her reminding me how to do this. I haven't really used my beast within in a long time, I kind of forgotten what I become. We were both instructed to focus on our ability to swim, the beast within reflects our personalities, therefore we transform into them whenever we needed them. We don't choose our animals. I shall explain this later.

Sylvia and I focused on swimming. How would we move around underwater as that beast, how would it feel? The answer is different for all of us, only we knew how we felt about being underwater in another form. When we were ready, Sabine instructs us to stand on a small islands in the middle of the lake, which we did in our bird within form, me being a falcon and Sylvia being a hummingbird. I thought about why Sylvia turns into a hummingbird.

Did she feel small compared to the rest of us? Did she want to be heard about what she can do for the clan before I heard her out? Did she feel weak? I knew it was something along those lines. I felt confident in what I can do for the clan, I am the Elders trusted warrior, I am known by most of the clan. I was strong, I was told that I was a force to be reckoned with and strategic in battle. Is that why I am a falcon? Now that Sabine told us about the animals we turn into representing our personalities, I can't help but wonder the reasons why. We looked around the water around us once we landed on it. The lake was fairly deep, at least thirty feet deep by the looks of it.

"Now, remember to focus about the ability to swim around the water freely. Stay near the surface to attempt this. We don't want you to accidently drown now." She instructed us. "Whenever you are ready, just jump in. I will wait for you."

With that, she jumped into a lake. We saw that she turned into tortoise. We focused again, visualising how we were going to swim. I am a good swimmer, but that doesn't always help if I were in combat. Sylvia looked unsure however. She had her eyes closed as she concentrated about swimming underwater. She groaned slightly as she confessed:

"I can't swim. How am I meant to change forms to swim if I can't swim normally?"

I gave her a sympathetic smile, telling her that a good way to practice swimming normally is when she has a magic barrier around her until she can do the different swimming styles. Then she can practice without the barrier to hold her breath. She thanked me for the advice, took a deep breath and tells me that she is ready when I am. We walk to the edge of the water, made sure that we were ready, focused on our goals with the right mind set. We jumped in, able to breathe underwater thanks to the barriers we created around ourselves. Once we were down a few feet, we attempted to change forms. I found that I completely forgotten what it was I can change into, finding it difficult to change form and found myself sinking deeper into the water. I kick myself up in order to stay close to the surface, seeing Sylvia attempt to do the same without much luck.

"Like this Sylvia." I call out to her, swimming towards her. The best I can describe this style of swimming is by flapping my arms, with cupped hands, like a bird as I kicked the water. "That's the basic way to swim above and below water."

After a few attempts, she was able to get the movements correct to allow herself to move around. To stay in place, all we had to do was to keep making small circles with our arms and slowing down our kicking. Sabine swam up to us, encouraging Sylvia that now that she learned some basic swimming, it should be easier now to switch forms. I attempt one last time, finally able to switch forms. The first thing I noticed was that my eyesight, I was able to spot thing that are at least three hundred feet away, the lake was bigger than we thought, and when I flick my tongue, I was able to pick up different scents. I also had something that was similar to a hood that I can open appear more menacing and larger. I was able to turn into the Cobra Within. I was happy now that I achieved this ability. I swam around gracefully in circles as Sylvia continued to attempt this as well. I told her focus.

It took a few minutes, but thankfully she is a quick learner and we found out that her beast within was an otter. Cute. She looked surprised and happy that she was able to learn the ability, excited enough that she completely lost focus of staying in that form, changing back. She froze in place, blinked a couple of times before realising her mistake and made a mad swim dash toward the surface, holding onto Sabine's shell as soon as she broke through to the surface. I followed suit, gliding on the waters surface towards the out of breath and giggling Sylvia.

"Hehe, w-whoops. I didn't …. mean that." She panted. She noticed me and points out: "You look kind of …. kind of creepy there Rosa …. but that's cool too. Didn't think you would turn into a Cobra of all things."

Now that she mentions it, neither did I. I'd imagine that it had the same meaning as my Falcon within form. Once Sylvia caught her breathe, she was able to change into her Otter Within form easier now and began to swim around. I swam in spirals that made me look like a spring, Sylvia swam right through me. I nearly ended up tying myself into a knot trying to catch as she did that. I felt her hold onto the crown I was wearing in this form, probably not noticing that I felt it. I caught her and opened the hood, hissing at her as my fangs became visible. She used her small paws to loosen my grip on her, breaking free before swimming in between some stones. Sabine was in her shell as well, I saw that from the corner of my eye just within my peripheral vision. I was about to swim toward her before I felt something tap my head. I saw a small stone continue to slowly sink toward the bottom. I looked up to see the black otter with purple padded paws shrug her shoulders jokingly, as her watch attached to a ribbon around her neck float in front of her. We swam toward Sabine who emerged from her shell. We made it back to land.

"That was fun." Sylvia says as she grinned ear to ear. "I thought it would have took me ages to learn that ability."

"You are a quick learner Sylvia, well done." Sabine praised. "I plan to visit Vigrid soon to visit the Elder, so if you would like me to teach you some more-"

"If you were able to teach Rosa for her to be able to become the Elder's trusted warrior, there's no way I would refuse to let you teach me some skills!" Sylvia interrupts. "Can you please teach me more ways of the Umbra?"

Sabine smiled and accepted her new students request. I was happy now that Sylvia's life have been getting more easier now. She will be learning some intermediate Dark Arts, weapon use, summons, everything that warriors are taught. I now saw her as a little sister, proud of her accomplishments and always making sure she got what she needed to help her out.

It was late evening now, we all left to find out the quickest way to get home. Just by luck, or sheer coincidence, the same group from this morning was back with their reports, kindly asking us if we needed another ride home. We thanked them, returning home within a couple of hours.

Today was a good day.


	19. Chapter 19

'So much for the sunny weather.' Was the first thought I had when I woke up on the morning of my third day off.

I say third day off because the Elder had approached me last night, allowing me to have an extra week off due to the recent events, as well as the Rogue attacks, calming down. The rain was heavy that day, thankfully the window was locked shut other wise the heavy wind would have wrecked my room by now. No sight of the sun, just huge rain clouds bringing with it a light fog covering the area. I like rain and fog, but not the wind since it makes the temperature colder than it should in my opinion. I changed into some casual robes, deciding how I would spend my day. I already did some sparring practice the day before. I didn't want to spend my day reading. Sylvia is training under Sabine. The wind meant that I can't go to the little sanctuary. I might as well see what everyone else is doing. Many of my Umbran Sisters were spending the day inside as well, most of them looked bored while others studied and chatted in groups scattered around the building. I noticed a few groups wearing familiar white robe joining in as well. Wonder why the Lumen were here? Then again, this weather is bound to have people seeking shelter, though we are opposites, we do help the Lumen when we need to.

"Terrible weather we're having, won't you agree Umbra?" A Lumen asked an Umbra.

"Yeah, hopefully it will lighten up soon." She replied politely. She then joked, "I thought you Lumen can brighten up the day?"

Both group laughed as the Lumen proclaimed that they were having the day of cause why not, we should be happy about the dark day. I smiled at this. We all know the old rule about interacting with the Lumen, do not allow it to go any further than business relationship or just friends or risk total chaos, causing misbalance of the light and dark. How that rule lasted this long, I have no idea, but it does work. I continued to work my way past the scattered group, making my way to an indoor weapons training area. It's the only thing I can think of doing today. I made my way there, it was surprisingly more quiet than what I had expected. There was a desk near the enterance, where the Umbra in charge of this area would ask which weapon you would like to train with before going into the room behind her to retrieve the weapon. She would the instruct you to another large room to train, where some Umbra and Lumen occupied them. You would want to accidently get stabbed in the shooting range, do you?

I was debating which weapon to use until a voice spoke up.

"I recommend you practice with those swords you normally use. You're starting to lack skill with them."

Slightly annoyed, I turned to confront the person. But that annoyance was quickly diminished as I saw who it was, who had a cheeky smirk on his face

"Oh ha ha Lumen." I replied, smirking back at him. "I would be quick to slash you before you even have the chance to summon your oh so Holy Glaive."

"Oh really now?" Balder asked with a raised eyebrow, smirk unwavering. "Care to prove it?"

I nod confidentially, asking the Umbra behind the desk to use the Rakshasa. Balder asked for a glaive. Real weapons are only to be used in the field, not in training as to not risk injury. We were then taken to a room, as we walked I asked Balder:

"What are you doing in here anyway?"

"I had a few days off from my duties and decided to take a look around Vigrid. That's when this storm started." He explained. "Here was closer, so I came here just as the wind started to pick. A few of my brothers must have thought the same too since they are here too."

"It would have been weird if you were the only one here." I joked, "Other wise you would be kicked out, stuck in the rain, soaked to the bone and smelling like a wet dog."

We chuckled as we reached the room. The room was actually quite big, the small wooden door makes it deceiving. It was only us two in here. We thanked my sister as she exited the room. We walked to either side of the room. I twirled one sword as I went into a fighting stance. Balder held his Glaive behind him in his battle stance. We nod to each other that we were ready. A moment passed, I made a few feint movements to see if it could make him budge. He only shielded himself, not budging from his position. I charged towards him, his guard still raised as I jumped high into the air toward him. I swung the swords into a cross shape, only for him to block it, pushing me back making me skid to a halt. As I looked up, he was already right in front of me striking me with the point of the Glaive. No damage was done however is I turned into the Hornets within to dodge at the last possible moment, appearing behind him allowing me to the chance to kick his back. He twirled round to face me as he skid back into fighting stance. We fought, slashing, blocking, dodging taunting. It was quite fun actually since he is proving to me as to why he was the Lumen Elder's Trusted Warrior. I noticed something as well, if I were to be struck by an attack, my blood would become rose petals. For Balder, it would be golden feathers. It's an amusing fact about the Umbra Witches and Lumen Sages. This sparring match lasted for quite a bit. I was in the air charging straight towards him, ready to strike. He throws his Glaive at me, I throw one of my swords. We both dodged, giving me a chance to throw the other sword at him. As he dodged, he began to fall over. He twirls round throwing a feather at me. It caught me of guard, barely landing on my feet as I tumbled. I brace myself for the impact. Instead, I landed on something soft. I open my eyes to see Balder's face inches from mine. I landed on him. A moment passed before we both clicked onto what just happened. We both blushed bright red in a matter of a second. I quickly stood up.

"Hehehe, sorry." I apologized, scratching my head as I offer him a hand to help him up.

He did the same as I helped him up. He just gave a nervous laugh as we straightened our stance. We didn't look at each other for a few moment as we regained our composures. The door opened to reveal the Umbra brining in a group for their practice. We acted cool, shaking each others hands as a sign of a good sparring practice done. We casually handed back the weapons and left. The bell rang to tell us that it is now the afternoon, which means it is now lunchtime. At the same time, my stomach growls signalling that I should have had breakfast by now. Balder was the same, so we both decided to get something to eat in the lunch hall. The hall was mostly full by this point , the sound was loud enough that we had to raise our voices slightly.

"HEY! ROSA!" A female voice called out. I turned to see Sylvia and Sabine beckoning us over. "SAVED SOME SEATS FOR YA!"

We made our way to the table. We sat at the table with a relieved sigh. Sabine placed two bowls of soup with some bread were put in front of us.

"Figure you'd be hungry by now. You always did end up skipping breakfast." She answered the unspoken question. We thanked her.

"So," Sylvia began as we started to eat. "How have you been spending your day so far?"

We just told them that we bumped into each other in the training hall, deciding we were going to do some sparring practice. Leaving out the tripping over and landing on Balder part, obviously.

They spent their morning with some weapon and accessories along with the best combinations of the two. They plan to do some sparring practice with each weapon to see which is the best preference for Sylvia to use. For example, we can shoot the pistols attached to our heels and attack with swords, or vice versa.

My preference is just using all my pistols when the enemies are easy to defeat. For stronger enemies, I use Onyx Rose, Undine, Chernobog, for the stronger enemies, I use the Umbran Armor. Accessories wise, I mainly use the Evil Harvest Rosary simply because it gives me the advantage to cause more damage from dodging, leaving behind the beads that explode. I am not that strong in combat, as I mentioned before I am more of a strategic fighter, nor up front and charging towards my enemies fighter. That is my preference.

We all went quiet when we heard the thunder outside, along with the lightning that crackled as it lit up the room. The storm was picking up. I wondered how the teams on missions were holding up out there. Others predicted that it will last a few days. Great. The double doors opening caught all of our attentions as the sound of it opening was quite loud in the silent room. It was our Umbran Elder.

"I have received word that the storm will pick up soon and as it is already bad enough today, the Lumen Sages who are here today are welcome to stay until the storm passes. Our Umbran Sisters who are in Paradiso are taking shelter there. For that, we are grateful to the Lumen. Thank you."

The Lumen who are in the room, including Balder, all thanked the Elder at once. The Elder nods, looked over everyone, before seeing me with Balder. She smiled, giving us nod to greet us. We replied by doing the same. She turned before leaving the room, conversations, thunder and lightning picking up straight after.

"Looks like you're stuck with us Lumen." I pointed out the obvious, turning back to finish my breakfast/lunch. "Now what?"

"We'll figure something out." Sabine says. "We do need to figure out where the Lumen are going to sleep, I reckon."

"I am sure you Umbra can figure it out ma'am." Balder replied politely. "We Lumen can assist you all if needed."

"You may call by my name, I am Sabine." She introduced herself, impressed with his politeness. "And I don't doubt that you will help. We shall do the same."

Balder was also impressed with how Sylvia became leader of her own recon group, sticking with her studies, all the while became more mature. The thunder roared again, the room lit up, the wind was howling outside.

I wonder how long this will last.


	20. Chapter 20

The storm had worsened in the past hour. Some loose bricks broke free every now and then, flying through a window on the odd occasion. Some teams were sent into Vigrid to assist the residence take shelter elsewhere. I was actually starting to get restless. I didn't want anyone to get hurt out there while I was stuck inside helpless. I decided to find the Elder to ask if there was any way I can help.

"Where are you going?" Balder asked once he realised that I leaving the room.

"Did you think that I plan to sit around while my fellow Umbra are out there?" I replied as I walked through the wooden doors, him following close behind. "Not only that, but the residence of Vigrid are also in danger too. It is our duty to protect them as well."

"I wouldn't expect it from the Elder's trusted warrior." He remarked. "And I agree. We were chosen to not only protect the Clan's, but also the residences regardless if they know it or not. I'll join you."

I thanked him and continued toward the Elder's office. It appears that she was looking for me as well, because we nearly crashed into each other rounding a corner. My wish had been granted as she assigned us to assist rescue groups relocate the citizens. Afterwards, we have to go to the last known location of the Recon team that went missing. They have not been heard from since before the storm started. Their last known location was Lumen and Umbran Holy Valley. The hills and mountains in that area can collapse if this keeps up, that is if it hadn't already therefore I wouldn't be surprised. If we were quick enough, we would be able to prevent the situation becoming worse than it might already be. The Elder left to assign the others to a task as we left in the opposite direction to get more weather appropriate clothing and equipment. We equipped ourselves with health items such as herbs, salves bandages, for the likely event that there would be someone injured. For clothing I got my robes that had a hood to cover my face along with switching my glasses with some googles, don't want to break my glasses now, do I? Balder had his golden mask with him. His masked was like a curved sun, that's the best way I can describe it's shape. It had a dark circle in the centre, with eight smaller ones around it. Once the hood on his robe is up, his head is completely covered. We double checked our equipment and braced ourselves for the task ahead.

We were nearly blown off our feet the minute we stepped foot out side the door, it took a few Witches and Lumen to shut the door against the gale force wind. Flying to town was out of the question, the mud made it too slippery to run without slipping and sliding everywhere. We shielded our faces with our arms as best as we could, looking around for the best way to get there safely. The whole place was flooded. Flooded. An idea sprang to mind.

"I hope you know how to swim Lumen!" I yelled out as loud as I can over the deafening howls of the wind. "We're going to have to take a little detour!"

He turned to face me, nodding to confirm that he had heard me. We forced our way against the wind and to the nearest river flowing towards Vigrid.

"This should be the quickest way there!" He calls out. "Follow me!"

He jumped into the water, I followed suit. He casts a yellow aura to surround him to allow him to breathe under water, he made sure I did the same before turning into a white Malpolon monspessulanus, with yellow patterns all over his back. His sun shaped watch hung from his neck by the golden chains attached to it. I changed into my Cobra form and we swam with the current to Vigrid. The current gave us an extra boost in speed. Up ahead, I saw splashes as something fell into the river. As the bubbles dissipate, the broken branches became visible. Balder saw them too as we got closer. We dodged the fallen branches, barely dodged the trees but thankfully we reached our destination before the river was blocked with the fallen debris with no way to turn back. We took a moment to look at the damage.

"So much for the swim in the river." Balder comments. "Luckily, we reached our destination."

He was right. We were near one of the entrance's that lead into town. The wooden enterance was now nothing but broken logs now. Splinters were scattered around and blowing in the wind. We entered the town, the wooden enterance collapsing on itself, no longer making exiting that way an option. It looked like everybody managed to escape on time. Windows were boarded up, some only hung by just a nail. Windows were shattered, sheets were thrown around in the wind, it looked worse than when the Rogues attacked.

"Did you hear that?" Balder asked, as he stopped me to listen.

Through the howls of the wind, a barely audible cry for help was heard. I couldn't tell which direction it was coming from. Flying around to find the source isn't an option either. Balder however, managed to figure out the direction it came from.

"Over here." He pointed toward a building that I knew originally had a jewellery stall set up. "Look, someone is trapping inside the building."

"The debris is blocking the enterance." I pointed out. "The glass and splinters flying around isn't helping either."

"Your partner should be able to clear the way. By the look of the building structure too, once the debris is cleared, the building would collapse. Keep the enterance clear until I get whoever is trapped inside." He instructed.

I nod, following the instructions. Khepri held the enterance open as Balder went into the building, scanning around the room before helping whoever was trapped inside. He comes back out carrying a young girl, who appeared to only have a few minor cuts and bruises, in his arms. Khepri returned to Inferno, the building collapsing not a moment later. We shielded the girl from the dust, jagged wood and flying shards of glass. All that was left of the building was the back half of it, with the rubble creating a inclined halfway up. Each room was visibly destroyed now.

The girl was hiding herself in Balder's arms as best as she could, scared but luckily it appears there's no major injuries were found. Poor girl was shaking from the cold weather and cold. I looked at Balder as we both tried to figure out where her parents could be by now?

"Hey. Are you ok little one?" I asked her, trying my best to comfort her. "Are you hurt?"

The only answer was her shaking her head as she looked at us. It was the girl who's mother told her the tale of the Lumen and Umbra a while back. We couldn't hang around for long to get more information though, the storm was getting worse again.

Hopefully we can find shelter in time.


End file.
